{"id":9736,"date":"2015-11-13T07:14:42","date_gmt":"2015-11-13T12:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/?p=9736"},"modified":"2015-11-13T08:08:29","modified_gmt":"2015-11-13T13:08:29","slug":"11-western-nations-pledge-to-help-kenya-fight-widespread-corruption-that-is-crippling-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/9736","title":{"rendered":"11 Western Nations Pledge to Help Kenya Fight Widespread Corruption That is Crippling Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"3802366413_bd5203dc99_o\"<\/a>Eleven European Union (EU) diplomats including representatives of Britain, the United States and Japan warned on Thursday that widespread corruption is destroying Kenya\u2019s economic growth and undermining its national security.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe share the concern of Kenyans at the ongoing problem of corruption,\u201d U.S. ambassador Bob Godec said. \u201cCorruption is undermining Kenya\u2019s future\u201d as it \u201cthreatens the country\u2019s economic growth, the provision of government services, and security. It deters investment and costs jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The diplomats issued the warning when they visited the headquarters of Kenya\u2019s Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EAAC). Senior diplomats from Canada, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden were also present at the meeting, which lasted for about two hours.<\/p>\n

The diplomats, who represent Kenya\u2019s biggest donors, pledged to help the East African nation fight widespread corruption<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should not be allowed to enjoy the ill-gotten gains of corruption in London, Geneva, New York or anywhere else, and we have a responsibility to ensure that those assets are returned to their rightful owners- the Kenyan people,\u201d said Christian Turner, British High Commissioner to Kenya.<\/p>\n

Besides returning stolen assets to Kenya, the statement<\/a> co-signed by the diplomats also promised to impose travel restrictions on corrupt officials. The ambassadors called for Kenyan officials to investigate every allegation of corruption. They also called for all persons found guilty to be punished according to the law regardless of their status.<\/p>\n

Kenya has long been plagued by corruption. However, recent cases of graft in government ministries have exposed the depth of the problem. Kenyans have pressured President Uhuru Kenyatta\u2019s administration to intensify its fight on corruption.<\/p>\n

Transparency International ranks Kenya in the bottom section of its annual corruption index – 145th out of 174 countries.<\/p>\n

The problem of corruption<\/a> is widespread and pervades different strata\u2019s of Kenya\u2019s society. A report last month revealed that a government ministry\u2019s budget included sex toys and ball point pens worth $85.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is now a general atmosphere where grand theft is normal,\u201d said John Githongo, former Chief of Kenya\u2019s anti-graft body. \u201cThere\u2019s a looting spree and clearly there\u2019s no fear of prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September, it was revealed that government officials bought 10 wheelbarrows priced at over $1,000 each. The report led to protests in Kenya\u2019s western Bungoma district.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Journalists for Justice published a report<\/a> accusing the Kenyan Defense Forces (KDF) of corruption which financed Somali militant Islamist group, al-Shabab.<\/p>\n

The report alleged that Kenya\u2019s army has been smuggling sugar and charcoal from Somalia since 2011 when it invaded the war-thorn country to fight Shabab.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a question of a few corrupt border guards and junior policemen,\u201d the report said. \u201cThis is a racket involving large sums of money that stretches to the highest levels within Kenya.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reports indicate<\/a> that proceeds of the illicit trade -estimated to be over $300 million- is shared in three ways between the Kenyan army, Somalia\u2019s regional government (the interim Jubaland Administration) and al-shabab through taxes.<\/p>\n

The KDF reportedly earns about $50 million yearly from taxes. And it is estimated that about 230 trucks of sugar are smuggled into Kenya through the port of Kismayo weekly.<\/p>\n

The KDF has denied the accusations that it was involved in a smuggling ring which finances al Shabab.<\/p>\n

Colonel David Obonyo, KDF spokesman, said Kenyan troops are committed to defeating Shabab with 22,000 other African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) soldiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not involved in sugar or charcoal business,\u201d Obonyo said. \u201cHow can you sit down with Shabab one minute, and the next you are killing each other?\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo: Nancy Mogire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eleven European Union (EU) diplomats including representatives of Britain, the United States and Japan warned on Thursday that widespread corruption is destroying Kenya\u2019s economic growth and undermining its national security. \u201cWe share the concern of Kenyans at the ongoing problem…<\/span> Read more ›<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[44,2872,1],"tags":[4455,4456,4457],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9736"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9736"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9741,"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9736\/revisions\/9741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.zegabi.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}