Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has warned that the next government will be made up of at least 40 per cent active players in money laundering and trafficking.
Speaking during the launch of the National Risk Assessment on Money laundering and Terrorism Financing, Matiang’i noted that by electing a significant number of criminals, the country will be exposed to terrible laws and linkage between corruption and bad leadership.
“You have seen people carrying money with bags in the villages the bankers here can attest to the fact that there is a shortage of 200 and 100 in banks because there are politicians dishing out this money in the village,” Matiang’i said.
He further noted that he has been fighting second-hand dealers that do not have permits but are operating working with senior politicians.
“I have been fighting people called second-hand motor vehicle dealers, two-thirds don’t have permits but they are operating because they have paid some of your people and they bribe them every day. We need to scan this environment and see what we need to do in terms of reinforcement Car dealers changed billions of shillings. How many cars do you need to sell to be able to have billions and all these dealers are friends of senior politicians,” Matiang’i stated.
Additionally, in the next report, the CS highlighted the need to involve other departments such us immigration in order to deal with cases involving foreigners suspected of cooperating with politicians.
“I have previously been called to Parliament to defend foreign investors, walking around with senior politicians, who don’t have a bank account. Now we have Venezuelans. If that is not stopped, we will have more problems,” he pointed out.
Inspector General of Police, Hillary Mutyambai said the National Police Service (NPS) is in full support of this report particularly on the investigations of financial offenses.
Director of Public Prosecutions, Noordin Haji noted that the Judiciary should also be involved in understanding more on financial risks.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had earlier flagged the need to have stronger controls on bank transactions in Kenya, citing increased worries about money laundering by corrupt networks.
According to an IMF team’s assessment report, Kenya should use financial intelligence tools to increase checks on corruption-related money laundering risk in banks and other high-risk industries.
“Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing oversight should be strengthened to limit corruption-related money laundering risk in banks and other high-risk sectors, and better use of financial intelligence should be made,” the International Monetary Fund team said.