The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Customs and Border Control Department collected a record Sh92.53 billion in July, exceeding its monthly target by Sh6.37 billion as it opened the 2026/2027 financial year on a strong footing.
According to Customs and Border Control Commissioner Dr. Lilian Nyawanda, the July collection was the highest monthly revenue ever recorded by the department and surpassed the Treasury target of Sh86.16 billion by Sh6.37 billion.
The performance translated to 107.39 per cent of the target and represented a 15.3 per cent increase from the Sh80.29 billion collected in July 2025, Nyawanda said.
Nyawanda said the latest milestone followed another strong performance in June, when Customs collected Sh89.1 billion, which was then the department’s highest monthly collection.
The two consecutive record-breaking months, she said, demonstrate sustained momentum in Customs revenue mobilisation and the department’s growing contribution to economic development.
A key contributor to the July performance was the growth in non-oil revenue, which reached Sh61.50 billion.
Nyawanda said this was the first time in the history of KRA that Customs’ non-oil revenue collection had crossed the Sh60 billion mark, highlighting the growing contribution of non-oil sources to the department’s revenue performance.
She attributed the improved revenue performance to measures that KRA has put in place to strengthen compliance and modernise customs administration.
These include increased use of technology, improved cargo management and efforts to facilitate legitimate trade through the country’s borders and the Port of Mombasa, according to Nyawanda.
Nyawanda said KRA had continued implementing reforms aimed at making Customs operations more efficient, transparent and predictable for traders while strengthening controls to protect government revenue.
The reforms include increased use of data and technology in cargo risk management, improved declaration processing and enhanced enforcement against illicit trade and revenue leakage.
The commissioner said the record July collection was a significant milestone for the authority and provided a strong start to the new financial year.
She said the performance demonstrated that KRA’s investments in technology, compliance, trade facilitation and collaboration with stakeholders were beginning to deliver results.
Nyawanda further said the authority would maintain its focus on making it easier for compliant businesses to trade while ensuring that all revenue due to the Government is collected.
The strong opening to the financial year comes as the Government continues to rely on enhanced domestic revenue mobilisation to finance its development priorities.
Nyawanda said the July performance reinforced KRA’s commitment to mobilising the revenue required to support government programmes while creating a predictable and efficient environment for legitimate businesses.
By Chris Mahandara
