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Kenya: House Debates Drugs And Money Laundering Bills
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Business Daily (Nairobi)
6 May 2008
Posted to the web 6 May 2008
Mwaura Kimani
The glory days of money launderers and international criminals in Kenya could be headed for an abrupt end.
In a renewed attempt at containing international crimes such as genocide and grand corruption, Parliament has begun a fresh debate on two crucial Bills seeking to fight these ills.
The Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering (Prevention) Bill 2008; and the International Crimes Bill 2008 have been reintroduced in Parliament after several unsuccessful attempts.
These have been billed as the most effective pieces of legislation in combating international crimes.
Experts say the comprehensive reforms could also renew investor confidence in the country.
Kenya's image has in the recent past been tarnished by reports of international crime syndicates, drug trafficking and high-level graft.
It is suspected that Kenya has become a fast developing hub for international criminals. Finance minister Amos Kimunya introduced the legislation, but it lapsed during the Ninth Parliament.
It pushes for the identification, tracing, freezing and seizure of proceeds of crimes.
The law also seeks to establish a financial reporting centre and asset recovery agency, to criminalise money laundering. It will require financial institutions, designated non-financial businesses and professionals such as lawyers and accountants to take prudential measures to help combat money laundering.
For years Kenya has been vulnerable to money laundering due to a lack of a legislative framework.
"Freezing, seizure and repatriation of proceeds of corruption should be facilitated by the developed world where dishonest developing world leadership hide their ill-gotten wealth and where they heavily invest," said Chris Odhiambo, a policy analyst at a local non governmental organisation.
The International Crimes Bill, 2008, which also lapsed with the previous Parliament, is aimed at enabling the Judiciary to exercise its powers over serious crimes such as genocide.
The International Crimes Bill, was debated in Parliament before being rejected in 2005.
The principal objective of the Bill is to incorporate the international crimes prescribed as offences in the Rome Statute into domestic laws of Kenya.
This would enable Kenyan authorities to investigate and prosecute crimes committed in the country or overseas by or against its citizens.
The Rome Statute empowers the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes committed by nationals of subscribed nations, of which Kenya is a member.
Kenyans living in the diaspora are set to benefit if the Bill becomes law as it would give authorities the power to extradite any suspected perpetrators of crimes against Kenyans.
Kenya has in recent months been the focus of international watchdogs over growing incidents of drug trafficking and money laundering.
According to a report released by the US State Department in March, Kenya had become a major haven for international drug trafficking and money laundering.
Another report released by the UN says that apart from the country being a transit point for international drug traffickers, it is also being used as a transshipment centre for chemicals used in the manufacture of hard drugs.
This has led to international anti-narcotics agencies naming the port of Mombasa as one of the leading transit ports for narcotics worldwide.
They say it is being used by South American drug cartels to transfer narcotics into Europe and North America.
Closer home, the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda (ICTR) has accusedKenya of not co-operating in tracking down of Rwandan fugitive Felicien Kabuga. The suspect is believed to be hiding in the country.
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The ICTR holds the view that Kabuga enjoys the protection of key security figures in the former Kanu and Narc regimes as well as in the current
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