The Mombasa Port has become a garage for 438 vehicles as the importers have failed to offset the high duty charges imposed by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
As if that were not enough, KRA has now threatened to auction the vehicles if the importers failed to clear them by May 15.
That leaves the importers with only two weeks before their cars are ‘disposed.’
According to the records, the impounded vehicles include high-end brands such as Range Rover, Toyota Land Cruise V8, Land Cruiser and BMW X5.
In March, KRA did a review on it’s valuation schedule , the Current Retail Selling Price (CRSP) formula, which led to the sharp rise of the prices of many models of vehicles.
The review is allegedly blamed for the abandonment of the hundreds of cars at the port.
Read: Notorious KRA Junior Officers Beth Turi, Chris Kibata Accused Of Extorting Business Owners
Speaking with the Business Daily, an importers whose vehicle is stuck at the Kilindini port mentioned: “Most of us clear the cars as we sell and when the clearance bills just shoot up suddenly, it makes no business sense to even try marketing the car since no one will buy.
“It is only in Kenya where you buy a used car from Japan and then its clearance cost almost matches the buying price,” he affirmed.
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