A technology firm has sued the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), seeking to block the roll out of a digital cargo pre-arrival declaration system amid claims of ‘copycat’ of a similar idea it had shared with the tax agency.
The tech company, Greenworld Big Data Limited, seeks urgent orders blocking the implementation of the Advance Cargo Declaration (ACD) customs platform from August 3, 2026, pending determination of the suit.
Alternatively, the company wants the court to compel KRA to pay it an ongoing royalty equal to 30 per cent of all revenue, gains, cost savings and efficiencies generated by the ACD platform if the tax authority is allowed to continue operating it.
The new ACD platform by KRA is a mandatory digital pre-arrival system requiring a 15-digit alphanumeric reference code for all containerised sea cargo destined for Kenyan ports before loading at the point of origin.
The company claims the taxman copied its proprietary cargo management system after the company shared the idea three years ago.
Court papers show KRA initiated its ACD system after receiving detailed presentations from the company about a similar programme dubbed the Advanced Cargo Information Declaration (ACID) platform in 2023.
Greenworld Big Data Limited alleged that KRA adopted key elements of the technology it presented to it in 2023 without its consent or compensation.
The company says the ACID platform was designed to digitise cargo movement by sea, air, rail and road, and to curb under-declaration and under-valuation of imports. The platform was also designed to improve cargo visibility before arrival, and recover an estimated Sh826 billion lost annually through revenue leakages.
It also says the system could save the government more than Sh23 billion in technology costs and generate an additional Sh150 billion annually through more accurate trade data, according to documents filed in court.
Greenworld Big Data Limited and its founder and director, Jacob Munene, filed the suit against KRA and the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning.
The plaintiffs say they independently conceived, designed and developed the ACID platform before approaching KRA in 2023 to market the technology. KRA and the National Treasury had not filed responses in the documents before the court at the time of publishing this article.
According to the court documents, the plaintiffs say they wrote to the then Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning, Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, more than once as part of their efforts to secure government adoption of the ACID platform.
The company engaged KRA officers between March 13 and August 15, 2023 through meetings, emails and presentations after conducting what it described as a forensic analysis of weaknesses within Kenya’s cargo handling and customs systems.
One of the key meetings took place at KRA headquarters on May 24, 2023.
The company says Mr Munene and fellow director Thomas Ngunyi presented the platform to nine senior KRA officials, chaired by James Ndege (a KRA Customs official), while Levison Kibet recorded the official minutes.
The affidavit claims the presentation disclosed “module by module, the entire architecture of the ACID System,” including the Big Data Hub, cargo consolidation, vessel manifest management, e-vessel booking, dashboard modules, inland cargo systems, smart gate technology, truck monitoring and satellite intelligence.
The company says KRA’s own minutes recorded that the presentation “highly impressed the members” and that the ACID system “is highly recommended by members through various user modifications.”
It says KRA officials also proposed another “technical team engagement” to “delve into the details of the ACID system and its solutions.”
Greenworld says communication then stopped. The company says KRA neither licensed the technology nor compensated it after receiving the detailed proposal.
Court papers show that the company wrote again on August 15, 2023, seeking a further 30-minute meeting with the Cabinet Secretary to explain the proposal, but never received a response.
The legal dispute emerged on July 14, 2026, when KRA issued a public notice announcing the rollout of its Advance Cargo Declaration (ACD) platform for all containerised cargo entering Kenya through its ports.
The tax authority said exporters would obtain an ACD reference code after uploading a draft bill of lading, commercial invoice, freight invoice and export declaration before cargo departed for Kenya.
The notice was addressed to all importers, exporters shipping goods to Kenya, ship owners, carriers, shipping agents, customs agents, and relevant stakeholders.
Greenworld argues that the similarities between the two systems extend beyond the names.
It says both platforms require cargo declarations before shipment leaves the port of origin, and generate shipment reference codes linked to bills of lading.
Both also rely on centralised digital processing, target importers, exporters, shipping agents and customs authorities, and seek to improve customs risk assessment while reducing revenue leakage.
“The striking similarity of the system is so resounding both in expression and system operation to the ACID System pitched to the Authority in 2023, including even the name that it only excludes the ‘I’ for Information,” the company states.