Humphrey Wattanga: New KRA Commissioner Who Was Top KCSE Candidate
He is a prominent figure in the field of corporate finance and business strategy but his academic background makes it difficult for any ordinary Kenyan to pin him down in a business-related argument.
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Humphrey Wattanga Mulongo was unheard of until Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u appointed him as the new Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Commissioner-General.
Wattanga takes over from Githii Mburu who in February 2023 handed his resignation letter to the KRA board on the same day as he went on to pursue personal interests.
He is a prominent figure in the field of corporate finance and business strategy but his academic background makes it difficult for any ordinary Kenyan to pin him down in a business-related argument.
His road to the top began at the famous Alliance High School where in 1990, he emerged as the top student in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) of that year, scoring straight As. He studied at Uhuru Primary School prior to his move to Alliance and was position 20 nationally in the 1986 KCPE.
Entrance to Alliance High School. /ALLIANCE HIGH SCHOOL
This earned him the Dr Ouko Award for Academic Excellence and thereafter an internship at East Africa Industries (UNILEVER) in Nairobi.
Wattanga then joined the University of Nairobi (UoN) though his academics were disrupted due to frequent strikes, coming at a time anti-government protests were commonplace owing to the push for multiparty democracy.
The new KRA Commissioner-General would in 1992 join the prestigious Harvard University to study Biochemistry until 1996 when he graduated.
He joined the Wharton School in 1998 for an MBA in Information Systems Strategy and Economics and Healthcare Management.
Until his appointment to KRA, Wattanga was working as the managing director of Meghraj Capital Limited, the investment banking advisory arm of the Meghraj Group, a firm that deals with among other issues, advising clients on mergers and acquisitions and partnerships.
His first job was as a Marketing Manager at Agillion before moving to American telco AT&T /SBC Communications in 2002 as a Business Development Manager.
In 2003 he moved to AFCORP Investments, a specialist Pan African private investment banking, business development and transaction advisory firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa and Kenya.
His first foray into public service came when he was appointed the commissioner and vice chair of the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA), his stint at the Times Tower coming after that of running Meghraj Capital.
Before his exit, he pushed for the automation of revenue collection in counties.
He describes himself as a corporate finance professional with over 20 years of international experience where mobilized capital and structured financial transactions in the public and private sectors.
"He has also been keenly focused on the application of technology to gain efficiencies and deliver targeted outcomes," KRA said in a statement appointing him as the new boss.
"He played a key role in the conceptualization, design, development, and implementation of a groundbreaking mobile gateway platform that linked Kenya's mobile money platforms to the Nairobi Securities Exchange, which was used to launch the M-Akiba bond."
Wattanga has also served as a member of the investment committee of Kenya Climate Ventures (KCV), a pioneering climate-smart investment platform that supports small and medium-sized enterprises.
He received the Nelson Mandela Hope Worldwide scholarship to the Wharton School of Business, where he graduated with a Master of Business Administration in Information Systems Strategy and Economics. Other job achievements are Cancer Research Laboratory Technician, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center – Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA (1996-97).
The new commissioner-general has a full plate in front of him with the President William Ruto-government seeking to raise Ksh2.768 trillion in the 2023/2024 financial year to fund his activities and stabilise the economy.
He will be expected to spearhead KRA’s operations and ensure that the Authority achieves its revenue targets.
