Kenya has proposed sweeping changes to the law governing the privileges and immunities granted to international organisations, placing the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) at the centre of a more stringent oversight system aimed at curbing abuse and tightening compliance.
- •The amendments to the Privileges and Immunities Act, outlined by Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs Minister Musalia Mudavadi, would create a Host Country Agreement Committee with KRA’s commissioner-general as one of its key members.
- •The committee would evaluate applications for Host Country Agreements, scrutinise annual returns filed by organisations operating under the arrangements, and assess adherence to tax and administrative requirements.
- •The move signals the government’s intention to close gaps that have enabled some internationally recognised bodies, particularly international NGOs, to claim privileges and immunities without consistent verification of their tax obligations or workforce structures.
Under the proposals, organisations seeking Host Country Agreements would be required to provide detailed documentation, including information relevant to taxation and compliance reviews. The ministry says the objective is to ensure “predictability, stronger compliance, and improved administrative efficiency,” with KRA expected to play a central role in enforcing the standards.
A significant change is a rule that internationally recruited staff or expatriates may not exceed one-third of an NGO’s workforce, a measure likely to affect staffing and payroll structures that KRA monitors for tax purposes.
The expatriate cap applies only to international NGOs, not intergovernmental organisations such as the UN, World Bank, IMF, AU, AfDB, or EAC, which derive their privileges from international treaties. These organisations will continue to enjoy treaty-based tax and operational immunities, though the new bill introduces explicit legal recognition of the privileges accorded to their experts on mission.
