The right to privacy is a key tenet of Kenya’s legal philosophy.
It is protected in among others the Banking Act, the Advocates Act and the telecommunications laws, which all provide that third parties-- including State agencies—cannot access people’s personal information without a court order.
By purporting to pass a provision in the Finance Bill giving the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) powers to access “third party” information freely, Finance Secretary Henry Rotich is attempting to repeal these Acts in one fell swoop.
He is implying that the KRA can access a taxpayer’s bank account, M-Pesa records or even files held by their advocates without any reference to the courts. Unfortunately the law is not on his side.