Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Commissioner General Githii Mburu has been appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.
Mburul was appointed to hold the crucial position during the 15th Global Forum Plenary meeting held last week in Seville, Spain, where he also chaired the 12th Africa Initiative Meeting.
He will serve for a period of three years, effective January 2023.
In his new role, the Commissioner General will be part of the Global Forum executive that will oversee implementation of strategies to influence and promote cooperation among tax authorities on Exchange of Information on Requests (EOIR), Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI), building capacity and providing technical assistance to tax administration towards fight against tax evasion.
He will serve with other members including the Global Forum Chair (France), two other Vice Chairpersons (Italy, Japan) and other sixteen (16) members drawn from different countries.
His appointment elevates Kenya and Africa’s profile in tax transparency and participation at the Global Forum.
His appointment is subsequent to the end of his two-year term as the first Africa Initiative Chairperson, a regional institute established to enhance the potential of tax transparency and exchange of information (EOI) in Africa.
The Initiative is tasked to ensure that African countries are equipped to explore improvements in global transparency and tackle tax evasion. The Africa Initiative is a partnership between the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, its African members and a number of regional and international organizations and development partners.
During Mburu’s leadership at the Africa Initiative, the institution made great progress towards unpacking the benefits of tax transparency and Exchange of Information (EOI) to fight tax evasion and other Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Africa.
Kenya hosted the 11th Africa Initiative Meeting of the Africa Initiative in June 2022, a high-level strategic engagement to advocate for tax transparency and EOI at the continental level, promotion of the Yaoundé Declaration and demonstrating the impact of tax transparency and EOI in domestic resource mobilisation.
