Published on April 27, 2025 by Kariuki Mwangi
Last Updated on 12 months by Kariuki Mwangi
The Senate majority leader, Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot is facing damning allegations of fraudulently syphoning money in billions meant for taxes from the betting industry.
In an exposé by blogger Cyprian Nyakundi, an insider has come forward with details that explain what many Kenyans have been wondering for months in regards to how the Kenya Revenue Authority looses taxes running into billions of shillings from sports betting firms with Senator Cheruiyot at the center of the debacle.
In the exposé, it is alleged that under the previous government, collection of betting taxes was straight forward as betting companies had no choice with their systems directly linked to KRA systems. For every bet placed, every shilling was taxed and the taxes went straight into the official KRA government accounts. There were no shortcuts or middlemen.
According to the information posted of Nyakundi’s Facebook page, the formal KRA setup did not last long. When the Kenya Kwanza government took over, a few powerful people quietly moved in to change everything. At the center of it all was Senator Aaron Cheruiyot.
The Senate majority leader and a group of government wheeler dealers allegedly pulled off what was nothing short of a coup. They pushed KRA out of the way and created their own private channel to collect money from betting companies.
Cheruiyot allegedly enlisted the services of sm the Compulynx eRevenue system which was originally designed for county governments to collect parking fees and small charges. In this case, it was hijacked to handle billions from Kenya’s betting industry. But instead of the money going directly to KRA like before, it first goes through this private system controlled by Cheruiyot’s network.
The most shocking part is how they charge . Service fees should not exceed 4.5 percent but revelations have been made that this rogue unit charges over 20 percent. Out of every hundred shillings, more than twenty is quietly taken away.
The fraudulent transactions, it is further alleged that is never declared in full and only a small portion of the billions is forwarded to KRA.
This is why, even as more Kenyans gamble daily, the government’s betting tax collections have been dropping. It is not because Kenyans stopped betting. It is because Aaron Cheruiyot and his gang are stealing the money before it even gets to government records.
Meanwhile ordinary Kenyans are the ones left to suffer. Families are pushed deeper into poverty. School fees go unpaid. Hospitals run out of basic supplies. And the people responsible carry on as if nothing is wrong.
