Interested bidders are required to have a KRA PIN and an iTax password which are used as the login credentials.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced an auction for several electronics including mobile smartphones and laptops, as well as clothing including shirts.
In a notice, KRA on Tuesday, September 17 revealed that the auction would begin on the date of the announcement, which is today, and end on Friday, September 20 at 8:55 am.
“Online auction is live! Place your bid by simply logging in with your KRA PIN and iTax password on the auction platform,” read the statement in part.
How To Bid
Kenyans who are interested in purchasing the items listed for auction were advised to visit the KRA auction platform, https://ibid.kra.go.ke.
A signpost of KRA Customs and Border Control at JKIA, Nairobi. /CAPITAL FM
Interested bidders are required to have a KRA PIN and an iTax password which are used as the login credentials. Once logged in, an individual can choose the item they would love to purchase and place their bid.
Viral Tea has accessed the bidding website and perused some of the items that are on offer during the auction.
A notable item is an iPhone 11 with 128 GB storage with a reserved price of Ksh20,667 and another iPhone being auctioned at a price of Ksh17,987.
A smartwatch is being auctioned for Ksh1,717 with four packages of men’s shirts going for Ksh35,062.
There is a Samsung phone being auctioned for Ksh8,111, a Samsung A22 with 128 GB reserved for Ksh6,019. A Dell laptop is being auctioned for Ksh75,720.
Other items that have been listed for auction include shirts, shoes and other personal effects. Judging from the photos uploaded on the bidding website, they could have been seized by KRA Customs at various entry points in Kenya and put up for auction after travellers were unable to pay the fees to have those items cleared.
On November 7, 2023, amidst the uproar that ensued over Kenyans’ torrid experiences with Customs and Border Control officers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, customs officials under the leadership of Commissioner-General Humphrey Wattanga impounded a series of prohibited items that were intended to be smuggled through the country’s major airport.
Wattanga was accompanied by Cabinet Secretary (CS) Alfred Mutua, now at Labour, as they did a media tour of the JKIA Passenger Terminal where passenger clearance usually takes place.
Among the items seized at the airport were an array of guns including handguns, revolver pistols, hunting rifles and rounds of ammunition whose sales in Kenya are limited and subject to government clearance.
Mutua and his team also recovered sex toys that passengers flying in through JKIA were carrying in their person.
Also, travellers carrying new and yet-to-be-unboxed smartphones were seized from travellers alongside other electronic items by revenue officials stationed at the international airport.
