A rise in non-oil imports in September saw the taxman exceed custom collections target by KES965 million as the Kenya Revenue Authority continued a strong performance in the 2026/2027 fiscal year.

In a market update on Monday, KRA said it posted a performance rate of 101.1 percent in September, collecting a total of KES90.05 billion.

KRA's customs and border control department said its performance during the month represents 5.8 percent jump compared to the KES85.2 billion during the comparable month last year.

The performance was underpinned by strong growth in non-oil revenue collections, which reached KES 57.2 billion against a target of KES 55.4 billion, exceeding the target by KES 1.8 billion, the taxman explained.

"The growth in non-oil revenue was driven by a 25.6 per cent increase in the overall value of imports, with bulk cargo growing by 49.2 per cent. The increase in bulk cargo was mainly attributed to imports of fertilisers, iron and steel, palm oil and its fractions, and rice, among other commodities," it added.

According to KRA, the number of motor vehicle imports and Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) handled for containerised cargo also increased by 8.1 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively.

The results underscore the role of effective Customs administration in facilitating legitimate trade while safeguarding government revenue. 

At the moment, KRA is rolling out reforms to turn customs operations more efficient, transparent and predictable for traders. 

"These include the introduction of Advance Cargo Declaration (ACD) and the increased use of data to strengthen cargo risk management, improve the processing of customs declarations and enhance the identification of high-risk consignments."

[email protected]