Foreigner Forced to Pay Tax on Gift Speaks of Bribery Temptations at JKIA

In an article written for an American institute, Efosa Ojomo, a senior research fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, confesses to being conflicted about bribing an official after he landed in Nairobi for the Access to Market conference with a collection of books. Ojomo experienced complications when the immigration officer held up the clearance process for roughly thirty minutes. As soon as the official got around to filling out the obligatory paperwork, Ojomo was required to make a payment of $120 in assessed import duties.

Adding to the ordeal, it took another 40 minutes until the officer finally managed to operate the credit card machine, enabling Ojomo to settle the payment at last. Corruption is a widespread issue in Kenya, often forcefully involving citizens. Last November was uneasy for airport management, as numerous foreigners voiced their discontent regarding their negative experiences at the Customs desk situated in the JKIA.

Passengers voiced their grievances, asserting that their personal space had been intruded upon when authorities sifted through their possessions to authenticate their contents. Even airline captains were not exempt from these inspections as Captain Fredrick Malu pondered the rationale behind customs officers rifling through his belongings for an item valued at Ksh10,000, which did not meet the required threshold.

In response to the outcry, Tourism CS Alfred Mutua visited the JKIA and gave reassurance that corrective measures had been taken to bring order and structure back to the airport. Guidelines within the East African tax regulations state that items worth no more than Ksh75,000 (USD500) per individual are not subject to import tax, provided that they are accompanied by the traveller and declared to the Customs Officer.