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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Kenya’s president to crack down on corrupt officials

Kenya’s president to crack down on corrupt officials
NAIROBI: President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Monday Kenya would introduce new anti-corruption legislation, blacklist officials accused of graft and strip licenses from banks violating money-laundering rules.

Public frustration in the nation of 44 million people has mounted in recent months over the failure to prosecute top officials accused of graft.


The president said theft by government officials was hurting economic development and promised to improve investigations into corruption and increase prosecutions.


“I will lead a national coordinated effort to reverse perverse incentives that lead to corruption, close the loopholes that dishonest officials use to steal and to tighten our legislation work,” Kenyatta said in a televised speech.


He spoke after Bob Collymore, chief executive of Kenya’s biggest telecoms firm Safaricom, presented him with a proposed anti-bribery bill drafted by the private sector.


Among new measures, Kenyatta said all businesses would have to sign an ethics code and companies and officials violating the code would be blacklisted for at least five years.

“The government will not engage in business with companies with blacklisted members,” Kenyatta said.
Companies and investors cite pervasive graft as one of the biggest challenges to doing business in Kenya and US President Barack Obama raised the issue when he visited in July.

In an unusual move, earlier this month the ambassadors of the United States, Britain and nine other countries said Kenya faced a “corruption crisis” and they would step up efforts to prevent the flow of illicit funds out of the country.


Kenyatta faces a tough task in winning over sceptics who say corruption has worsened under his watch.
“This speech was an admission of failure, an admission that nothing has happened in the last year,” said Patrick Gathara, a political cartoonist and commentator.


John Githongo, Kenya’s former anti-graft tsar and the country’s most outspoken anti-corruption activist, said: “My concern is that every time he makes one of these speeches things get worse not better. Sadly President Kenyatta’s credibility on this issue is rock bottom.”


Kenyatta said Kenya had signed agreements with an unspecified number of countries to deal with illicit wealth acquired in Kenya. “We will look to sign more such agreements,” he said.


Kenyatta said banks which violate anti-money-laundering regulations “will, at a minimum, lose their banking licenses”, while the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) would urgently strengthen its supervision capabilities over banks.


The focus on the banking sector comes after CBK took over management from two banks.


In the case of medium-sized lender Imperial Bank, fraudulent withdrawals totalling more than $333 million brought the bank to its knees, according to court documents. —
Reuters

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