US Announces Travel Ban for Corrupt Kenyans
The United States has begun implementing a travel ban on Kenyans implicated in corruption as well as drug trafficking.
Speaking to the Daily Nation, the US Embassy in Nairobi said it has begun revoking and denying visas to corrupt individuals. It also said the persons will be blocked from investing their ill-gotten money in the US.
The move comes a week after a Kenyan delegation led by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji and the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti sought the help of American agencies in fighting corruption during a trip to Washington, DC.
"The Embassy is closely vetting visa applications and revoking the visas of those individuals known to be engaged in graft to ensure corrupt individuals do not have the opportunity to spend their ill-gotten gains in the US,” the US Embassy told the Daily Nation.
The US Department of Justice said it will second a senior prosecutor to the Kenyan government to strengthen the war against graft.
The US also pledged to assist Kenya in the war against drug trafficking and money laundering.
“The US has funded programs to help Kenya’s customs authorities root out smuggling at Mombasa port and expanded US assistance to help Kenya develop new tools to fight money laundering,” said the US Embassy.
During the US trip, Kinoti and Haji met with Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Deputy Director David Bowidich, Head of Public Integrity at the Department of Justice Annalou Tirol and US Deputy Attorney-General Bruce Swartz.
Comments (15)
Good move. They need to block all MPigs, Governors, Senators and other top government officials who come to USA for shopping & vacation on taxpayers money and those dumb brainstorming tours/conferences.
Can we have the names.
In either countries: One has Professional corrupts and the other Crude corrupts.
I'll wait until I see some real actions being done before praising the US government. We have seen this script before and it has always led to nowhere. If the US Ambassador wants to help Kenya, he needs to think of a different script than following the same trend that has been futile such as showing grasp of local language and telling us that they are banning corrupt people from going to the US without even telling us who those people are. How then are we expected to know that the same people are actually not traveling abroad? Why not pressure the government to enact legislation meant for truly combating corruption? A legislation that closes all loopholes currently used by corrupt leaders such as buying judges, delaying tactics, stealing court documents, hoodwinking the public through harambee donations, paying fines etc. Why not stop lending the government money until this legislation is enacted? This is the only way to show real support to Kenyan people. Telling a corrupt person that you are banning them from visiting or investing in US will not hinder them an inch. They'll continue looting and investing in other countries. I know some us continue to think that the only thing that will bring change to Kenya is solely through Kenyans, but looking back, we all know that there was once an American Ambassador by the name Smith Hempston that fought tooth and nail alongside other Kenyans until we had a multi-party system. So involvement of other countries has proven beneficial, but it has to be done with sincerity and not just through gimmicks and dramatization. And so far, this Ambassador still is yet to prove that he means business.
@Jag, it's a dog and pony show if you ask me ;by the way, yours is an excellent piece. You touched on every patent issue on this corruption crisis resolution. Like you have put so eloquently, why not name names first? On a major print media; say Daily Nation, ambassador should publish a complete list of all the corrupt thugs that are banned from US. Then give the same list to the Director of the criminal prosecution George Kinoti to pick them up. Freeze all their accounts home and abroad. Attache all their properties and haul them in court then long prison term. By the way, if the only punishment for corruption is being banned from traveling to US, what if you don't even care to go to the US?
Please let's see how many u have blocked.N i hope u start with raila the economic saboteur.
Wow! Lol!!!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Ndugu Balozi wa Marekani katika nchi ya Kenya:
Nakuomba tafadhali utujuze/utujulishe majina ya wanaopora mali ya Kenya ambao hawaruhusiwi kuingia nchi ya Marekani.
Umuhimu wa kujua majina haya ni kuwa 2022, kutakuwa na uchaguzi mkubwa Kenya, nina hakika Ndugu WAFULA CHEBUKATI atawaruhusu matapeli wahujumu wa uchumi kushiriki kwenye uchaguzi huo. Hii ndiyo tabia mbaya sana ambayo WAFULA amezoea kutufanyia sisi Wakenya tulio wanyonge. Yeye huwaruhusu "MAFISI" kushiriki kwenye uchaguzi ndiyo sababu unaona ufisadi uko karibu kuangamiza nchi ya Kenya.
@Shoga daima. You really expect the US Ambassador to Understand your Swahili and Acton it? Pliz Stick to your bogus Logoli or whatever (hist in case the Ambassador will Read and Understand it too).😞
All talk????? If anyone is serious about fighting corruption show us by printing the names of those affected by the travel ban. It should start right away.
Kenyan corruption is no threat to Us national security. That's all they care about. In-fact, they would rather deal with the filthy and corrupt because they got something on them rather than the squeeky clean. Kwani ni jana Kenya ilianza kuwa corrupt? Au ni leo US wanagundua? TOTAL BS! Enzi za "US said this... US said that," and people pay attention, zimepitwa na wakati.
We have this small thing called the Freedom of Information Act that explicitly allows any person to request information from executive branch agencies. There are nine exemptions to the law. I doubt any of the corrupt individuals would be able to use these exemptions to stop their names from being published, once a request for these records was made. I should hope we all start looking into this as soon as visas start being denied. As a learned judge, paraphrasing an author said, "sunlight is the best disinfectant"
Very good, if war on corruption is won the US wins too by saving millions of dollars sent for aid.Kenya is rich enough to take care of its citizens if its wealth is well utilized.UK should do the same.Ban their family members too
@Guest1, what evidence do you have that @Imara is gay? Do you know him personally? What interest do you have in other people's sexual orientation and why?
Ndugu yangu @Njai. Kusema kweli, hakuna mtu katika maisha yangu yote ambaye amenitukana kama huyu ndugu yetu @Guest1.
Mimi simjui Guest1 wala sijamwona au kukutana naye. Isitoshe, simjui mtu yeyote huko Texas anakokaa. Kama ujuavyo, mimi ni mfuasi mkubwa sana wa MWUMBAJI MKUU. Na mambo ya ushoga si mojawapo ya mila za Mwafrika au mpango wa kimapenzi wa MWUMBAJI MKUU!
Kabla Wanayuropa na Waarabu kutufundisha tabia hizi za ajabu za ngono hakukuwa na mashoga miongoni mwa watu wa asili ya Kiafrika!
Ajabu ni kuwa, nilisikia mambo ya ushoga mara ya kwanza nilipofika nchi ya Marekani. Pia, sikujua ya kwamba wanaume au wanawake wanaweza kupendana kimapenzi!
Huyu ndugu yetu Guest 1 amenitukana vibaya sana na kunidharau na kunisingizia kwa jambo ambalo sijafanya (ushoga) katika maisha yangu.
Ndugu yangu @Njai, umeona ya kwamba siku hizi, mimi sijibu jambo lolote analosema juu yangu tangu aanze kunitukana na kuniita "shoga" jambo ambalo si sehemu mojawapo ya maisha yangu.
Ni ajabu kuwa mtu ambaye hanijui wala hajaniona anaweza kunitukana na kunichafulia jina langu duniani kote.
Ningependa Guest1 ajue ya kwamba "Siku za mwizi ni arobaini" popote alipo.