Nairobi, May 14 -- It is said there is nothing new under the sun. Not even the electronic tax invoice management system (eTIMS), which has been a thorn in the backside of many Kenyans.

To George Omondi Obell, commissioner for the Micro and Small Taxpayers Department at the Kenya Revenue Authority, eTIMS - an internet-based invoicing system - is an idea he brought back from his tour of duty around the world. Before eTIMS was launched in Kenya, Mr Obell had watched in awe how the technology transformed tax compliance in developed countries.

He had to bring the technology home. For Mr Obell, eTIMS is just one ammunition in an arsenal of technology the commissioner has been deploying to net millions of hard-to-tax Kenyans, including those i...