By Simon Muli
The KRA website lists names and images of its Board of Directors, and Wambui is not one of them.
This Facebook post with an image claiming to be of Nairobi businesswoman Mary Wambui as a board member of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is FALSE.
The image has 10 people posing on the steps of an unidentified building. The text accompanying the image reads: “The new KRA board. Second from right is business woman (sic) Wambui who has a Ksh 2 billion tax evasion case filed by KRA. At one point she had gone into hiding at Weston Hotel. “Freedom is here!”
Search results show the image was originally shared on the verified Twitter page of the Kenyan Judiciary on 24 November 2022, during the swearing-in of Anthony Mwaura as the new KRA chairperson. The tax collector also tweeted and shared images from the ceremony on 24 November 2022.
President William Ruto appointed Mwaura, a former Elections Board chairman of the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party, on 18 November 2022 as reported here, here, and here.
Also in the current KRA board are Charles Omanga, Leornard Ithau, Sally Mahihu, Susan Mudhune, Mukesh Shah, Richard Opembe, Musa Kathanje, and Maryann Njau.
Local dailies have in the past reported about Wambui’s KSh2.2 billion tax evasion case, including here and here.
Whereas Wambui attended the swearing-in ceremony and posed for a photo with the new KRA chairperson, she is not part of the board as claimed.
The KRA website has a list of members of its board, comprising both public and private sector experts. The board mainly makes policy decisions for implementation by the KRA management.
Apart from Mwaura (third left in the front row), none of the other KRA board members is in the picture.
PesaCheck showed the image to KRA, who confirmed the names of the people in the image. In the picture from left, are The Judiciary Kenya Registrar Magistrates’ Court Hon Peter Mulwa, UDA Secretary General and Nominated Senator Veronica Maina, KRA Chairperson Anthony Mwaura, Deputy Chief Registrar- Judiciary Paul Maina, KRA Commissioner General Githii Mburu, Mary Wambui and KRA Commissioner Paul Matuku outside Supreme Court Building following the swearing in of Mwaura as the new KRA Chairperson.
Wambui has since been appointed the Chairperson of the Communication Authority of Kenya.
PesaCheck has examined the image claiming to be of Nairobi businesswoman Mary Wambui as board member of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and found it to be FALSE.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
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