By The Weekly Vision Business Reporter
The Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) newly launched Advance Cargo Declaration (ACD) system, which the authority says will help curb revenue leakages worth billions of shillings, has become the subject of a High Court dispute after a Kenyan technology company alleged that the platform closely mirrors one it presented to KRA officials more than three years ago.
Greenworld Big Data Limited has sued KRA and National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, claiming the ACD platform is substantially similar to a cargo declaration system the company developed and demonstrated to senior KRA officials in 2023. The firm alleges that KRA later introduced its own version without entering into a licensing agreement or compensating the company.
According to court documents, Greenworld directors Jacob Munene and Thomas Ngunyi first approached KRA in March 2023 with a proposal for a digital cargo declaration platform that would require exporters, whether shipping goods from China, Dubai, or any other country, to submit cargo information electronically before consignments left their ports of origin. The proposed system was intended to enable KRA to assess cargo before vessels departed for Kenya, thereby strengthening customs enforcement and reducing revenue leakages.
The company named its platform the Advanced Cargo Information Declaration (ACID) system. Between March and August 2023, Greenworld says it engaged KRA through meetings, email correspondence and technical presentations after conducting its own assessment of weaknesses in Kenya’s customs and cargo management processes.
Court papers state that a key presentation took place at KRA’s Times Tower headquarters on 24 May 2023 before nine senior officials from the Customs and Border Control Department. According to Greenworld, the company demonstrated the platform’s architecture in detail, including its data hub, cargo consolidation module, vessel manifest management, electronic vessel booking, performance dashboards, inland cargo tracking, smart-gate technology, truck monitoring and satellite intelligence capabilities.
Greenworld further alleges that KRA’s internal meeting minutes described the presentation as impressive and recommended that the proposed system be considered for adoption, subject to further refinement. The company claims officials proposed a subsequent technical meeting to explore the platform in greater detail.
However, Greenworld says communication later ceased. No licensing agreement was executed, and no commercial arrangement was concluded. The company further alleges that a letter sent to the then National Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, requesting a follow-up meeting on 15 August 2023 did not receive a response. The dispute surfaced publicly on 3 August 2026 when KRA rolled out the Advance Cargo Declaration system for all containerised sea cargo destined for Kenya. Under the new regime, exporters must obtain a unique 15-character alphanumeric ACD reference code before cargo is loaded at the port of origin.
Greenworld argues that the similarities between its ACID platform and KRA’s ACD system extend beyond their names. According to its court filings, both systems require advance cargo declarations before shipment, generate unique reference codes linked to bills of lading, rely on centralised digital processing, target importers, exporters, shipping agents and customs officials, and are designed to strengthen risk assessment while reducing revenue leakages.
The company contends that the similarity between the two systems is sufficiently close to warrant judicial scrutiny, arguing that KRA’s platform differs principally in omitting the word “Information” from the acronym ACID to produce ACD.
The company is asking the court either to restrain KRA from operating the ACD platform or, should the court permit its continued use, to award Greenworld a 30 per cent royalty on the revenue gains, cost savings and operational efficiencies generated by the system.
At the heart of the dispute is a question with potentially significant implications for public procurement and intellectual property rights: did KRA independently develop the ACD platform, or did it make use of Greenworld’s proprietary technology without authorisation or compensation?
The Greenworld case is one of several recent legal disputes involving KRA and the National Treasury. Earlier this year, Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and then KRA Commissioner General Humphrey Wattanga were cited in contempt proceedings after approximately 55,000 tonnes of duty-free rice, valued at about KSh5.5 billion, were allowed into the country despite court orders suspending the imports pending determination of the case. KRA’s Commissioner for Customs and Border Control was also named in those proceedings.
In a separate matter, the High Court last September suspended Mr Mbadi’s directive requiring all public entities and county governments to adopt the electronic Government Procurement System after the Council of Governors argued that the rollout lacked an adequate legal framework and sufficient public participation. The appointment of KRA’s current Commissioner General, Adan Mohamed, is also the subject of separate court proceedings challenging the recruitment process and the application of retirement-age regulations.
