President Ruto now targets diplomats for revenue
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei at Parliament Buildings in Nairobi on November 15, 2022.
Kenya has informed diplomatic missions in Nairobi to start paying for government services they were initially exempted from.
But the notice has already created confusion as it does not specify the services diplomats should now be paying for.
Last month, the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs wrote to foreign missions in Nairobi, advising that the government had decided to start charging them for services as they don’t fall under the category of taxes.
“Following an inter-ministerial meeting of government agencies, it was reported, discussed and agreed that the hitherto exempted service fee was in fact payable and is not exempted under the Vienna Convention as well as the Host Country Agreements (HCAs) since these are not taxes or levies,” the November 8 notice said.
The ministry added that the government is “streamlining its payment system to onboard diplomatic corps on e-citizen platform to allow seamless payment for the services.”
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei said diplomatic privileges are governed by the Diplomatic and Privileges Act, which is aligned to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
“It exempts diplomats from various taxes and custom duties. Charges associated with issuance of driving licences, birth certificates etc are payable by diplomats as these are service charges and not taxes,” said Dr Singoei when responding to the concerns.
Under Article 23 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, foreign missions are usually exempted from taxes.
“The sending State and the head of the mission shall be exempt from all national, regional or municipal dues and taxes in respect of the premises of the mission, whether owned or leased, other than such as represent payment for specific services rendered,” it says.
“The exemption from taxation referred to in this article shall not apply to such dues and taxes payable under the law of the receiving State by persons contracting with the sending State or the head of the mission,” the treaty adds.
Although some missions in Nairobi, such as those of non-governmental organisations, have specified host-country agreements on the type of immunities and privileges granted to them, they mostly borrow from the Vienna Convention of 1961 as the seminal law on the conduct of diplomacy.
Some diplomats, however, said they need clarity on the type of services they will pay for, complaining that government agencies are already indiscriminately demanding pay for services.
Some officials attached to various diplomatic missions in Nairobi have also taken issue with the taxman’s directive asking them to pay taxes they were initially exempted, for example, duty-free vehicle importation and land rates where their offices are situated.
Those who confided in the ‘Nation’ have questioned the drastic change in the country’s tax regime, which seeks to compel them to pay local taxes.
For instance, they say, a diplomat serving in Kenya is only allowed a one-off duty-free vehicle importation within the year of arrival as well as the spouse. In the second year, they are required to purchase the vehicles locally and meet the tax obligation.
An official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the missions will not pay, for now, until a system upgrade clarifies the issue and categorises the charges for diplomatic missions.
Some ambassadors say they need clarity for budgeting and to eliminate potential areas of disputes. Missions may be exempted from taxes such as VAT or tax on rental income for premises they lease, and levies such as land rates for plots rented by the missions, but they will now be expected to pay for services such as verification information from the registry about a company to be contracted for work at the mission.
Heads of missions will also pay for services such as obtaining local birth certificates in case they get newborns while in Kenya and endorsing foreign driving licences in Kenya for their kin.
