Anthony Nganga Mwaura, the new chairman of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) board of directors is a businessman with a controversial past.
His steep rise to the KRA leadership is a contentious one.
Before 2020, he kept a very low profile, and was unknown to many Kenyans.
Mr Mwaura shot to instant fame when his two companies, Hardi Enterprises and Toddy Civil Engineering Company, were implicated in a City Hall scandal for allegedly receiving irregular payments amounting to Sh102 million.
At the time, reports indicated that the money was allegedly wired to Hardi Enterprises, which distributed it to five of its Equity Bank accounts in various amounts.
The Assets Recovery Authority (ARA) sought to have these accounts frozen, together with nine high-end vehicles that he had bought using proceeds of corruption.
Although Mr Mwaura insisted he was a genuine entrepreneur, Justice Mumbi Ngugi granted ARA’s request.
In his defence, he claimed to have accumulated his wealth by doing construction business with the government.
By 2021, Mr Mwaura no longer shied away from the glare of the cameras.
He began making public appearances as the chair of the elections board of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.
Within the span of a few months, he went from near obscurity to chairing one of the most critical boards in the country for the next three years.
But who is this man? And how did he manage to smoothly penetrate the innermost sanctum of the government?
Records show that in 2002, Mr Mwaura established Toddy Civil Engineering Company in Karatina town, Nyeri County – the hometown of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
At the time, his company had only two employees, and specialized in civil engineering, construction, lease of machinery and supply of construction materials.
By 2006, Toddy was doing business with the government through State departments and agencies such as Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and Tana Water Works Development Agency (TWWDA).
It has also worked with the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) among other entities.
There is no mention of who the directors are.
It is understood that Mr Mwaura’s relationship with President William Ruto is a key factor of hid quick rise to power.
Considered a Ruto loyalist, he is one of only a handful of people who have the ear of the president.
When Ruto, then Deputy President, entrusted him with running the nominations of the UDA party, he took it as a rare opportunity to prove his credentials.
It now seems like President Ruto was preparing him for a bigger stage, in the event he won the presidential election.
Mr Mwaura will lead a team of seven directors, namely, Charles Omanga, Leonard Ithau, Sally Mahihu and Susan Mudhune.
Other directors are Mukesh Shah, Richard Opembe, and Maryann Njau.
It is also worth noting that Mr Mwaura takes the powerful office at a time the government is facing a severe cash crunch that has seen the Treasury’s overdraft at the Central Bank of Kenya hit Sh67 billion this month.
Whether he will fill the huge shoes of previous holders of the role at the Times Tower remains to be seen.
