The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is spending billions on drones, patrol boats, and AI systems to crack down on tax evasion and smuggling across the country’s borders and coastline.
KRA has opened bidding for a technology overhaul that will deploy unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor remote border areas and transit routes that have been hard to police on the ground.
Marine patrol boats will target smuggling along the coast and inland waterways, which have served as major channels for illicit goods.
All the hardware will feed into a centralized command center where enforcement officers can watch live data and coordinate faster responses. The system is designed to cut down on manual inspections in dangerous areas, which KRA says will improve both staff safety and cargo clearance times.
The agency also wants AI-powered risk analysis engines, blockchain integration, and smart gates at border crossings. Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga says the AI will scan millions of data points, including bank statements, to flag evasion patterns that human auditors miss.
READ: KRA to Roll Out Automated Tax Return Validation From January 2026
KRA is structuring this as a performance-based contract. The winning bidder needs to show at least KES 5 billion in annual revenue and KES 10 billion in creditworthiness and will only get paid when specific milestones are hit. That shifts the upfront budget risk away from the tax authority.
The entire implementation is supposed to wrap up within 18 months of contract signing. Proposals are due by mid-February 2026.
This is all part of KRA’s 9th Corporate Plan, which leans heavily on automation and data to hit aggressive revenue targets set by the National Treasury.
The agency needs to collect KES 2.968 trillion this year, a 15.4% increase from last year, while simultaneously trying to bring over 5 million small businesses in the informal sector into the tax net.
KRA has previously pointed to its iTax and Integrated Customs Management System as drivers of revenue growth despite a tough economic climate.
The new surveillance and AI systems are meant to accelerate that momentum and potentially set a standard for other tax authorities in East Africa.
