The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is in the process of enhancing its border control capacity in the fight against illicit trade, which has denied the country the needed taxes for running the economy.
The initiative is also expected to protect local manufacturers from unfair competition by unscrupulous traders who dump smuggled goods into the local market.
KRA Chief Manager of Customs and Border Control, Scanner Management Section, Albert Atambo said the Authority is currently exploring deploying artificial intelligence (AI) to manage its scanners at border points.
He said this would enable the Authority to strike the intricate balance between facilitating trade and protecting the interests of the society by ensuring that illegal consignments, including weapons, on unaccustomed and undervalued goods are intercepted.
Atambo insists that deployment of scanners at the Port of Mombasa tremendously reduced smuggling, and the use of AI would give the Authority a new impetus in its border control and revenue collection initiatives.
“We want to leverage technology to be at par with international standards to increase the compliance level. The integration of scanners to a centralized command centre in 2018 has seen aspects like unaccustomed goods decrease to an average of 1 percent,” said Atambo.
The Chief Manager added that the Authority is on the path of fully revolutionizing the Customs and Border Control Division into a tech-driven division that would be non-intrusive with minimal human interaction, an automation move that will seal loopholes.
“The digital age has compelled us to move towards ‘smart customs’ that will see us fully dependent on technology. Once we acquired the I-scan technology, we integrated all operational scanners, and the result of that has borne fruit,” added Atambo.
KRA scans 100 percent of all containerized cargo from the maritime ports and is working towards integrating all land borders with the I-scan systems to improve efficiency and improve on security.
By Andrew Hinga
