The US Department of Justice and FBI hosted DCI boss George Kinoti and DPP Noordin Haji as part of the renewed efforts to streamline Kenya’s criminal justice system.
US Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter said his country would act tough to help Kenya fight corruption and the drug menace.
Individuals implicated in corruption and drugs and their family members will not be allowed to step on American soil as President Donald Trump’s administration gets tough on Kenya.
Apart from imposing visa bans on Kenyans linked to corruption and drugs, the US has also put on hold construction of the Mombasa superhighway until the country sorts out its debt mess.
In an exclusive interview with the Nation, US Ambassador to Kenya Kyle McCarter said his country would act tough to help Kenya fight corruption and the drug menace.
The envoy warned those implicated in the Akasha brothers’ drugs network that their days, too, were numbered.
But when, not if, the US will airlift those implicated in blocking the extradition of the Akasha brothers — Baktash and Ibrahim — is not clear.
“My message to them is simple: ‘Beware … We’ll look for you; we’ll come for you,” said Mr McCarter.
“If we have the ability to do it, we will do it.” On the ongoing war against corruption, Mr McCarter said the US administration has already stopped a senior personality — whom he did not name — from travelling to the US.
“This thievery has to stop. We shall not support anybody stealing money in Kenya to pay school fees in the US for their kids,” he said.
JOINT TASK FORCE
This is the second time the US is invoking Proclamation 7750 on corrupt Kenyans.
In 2009, during the Anglo Leasing crisis, the US embassy invoked Proclamation 7750, which cancels or denies visas to anyone engaging in, associated with, or benefiting from corruption.
The envoy has been outspoken, of late, on Twitter with his hash tag #StopTheseThieves. “We’ve to prosecute influential people to be an example to everyone. Though Kenya is making progress in netting the ‘big fish’ — it is not as fast (as we want),” the envoy told Nation, adding that his country had started training prosecutors and investigators.
“President [Uhuru] Kenyatta has our full support and we’re going to be very active in helping institutions to combat corruption,” he said.
Four months ago, the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) hosted the Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti alongside Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji as part of the renewed efforts to streamline Kenya’s criminal justice system. They also formed a Joint Terrorism Task Force in Kenya.
During the June 12 meeting, the two met with David Bowdich, the deputy director of the FBI, who oversees all FBI domestic and international investigative and intelligence activities. He, too, promised the two “full support”.
