POLITICAL PARTY FINANCE & THE LINK TO CRIME AND MONEY LAUNDERING IN KENYA.

The phrase “money laundering” gained prominence during the Watergate Scandal when President Richard Nixon’s Campaign Committee moved illicit campaign donations to Mexico and then brought the funds back through a shell corporation in Miami.

In every election year, Kenyans experience extraordinary generosity from politicians. The countryside comes into life with new projects and unsolicited donations towards various courses. Is this excessive benevolence always genuine and who funds it?

From globe trotting, forming new charities, trusts and foundations, to plans for expensive associative lunches and dinners, politicians are sparing no efforts to raise campaign funds for this year’s general election. The clamour for a Ksh. 6 million send off by members of the 9th parliament should be seen in the same light. In a nascent democracy, there is always a risk that the governing party could use public funds or dispose of state assets to fund its campaign. The allocation of Karura Forest land around 1997 is a fine example. In developed democracies, political parties raise their campaign funds from member subscriptions and sponsors in an open and transparent manner. They are also subject to regular and independent audit by the state.

The Political Party Parties Bill, 2004 is yet to become law meaning that Kenya has no law or appropriate structures to regulate and audit political party finance. Parties and contestants are therefore free to raise campaign funds using every available means. The stakes are higher in this year’s election since the opposition is seeking to unseat a serving president. Racketeers and wheeler dealers are lining up watching keenly from the sidelines for the perfect opportunity to “invest’ in the right political party or alliance. Such an investment does not come cheap and is incredibly dear to the taxpayer in the long run.

The pay back comes in several ways. It can take the form of poorly negotiated public procurement deals which are highly lopsided against the state. The citizens end up paying many more times the value of ordinary items procured by the sate. Financial scams such as the Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing all appeared during election campaigns. Another form of compensation is protection from arrest and prosecution by the law enforcement agencies of the state. In 1973 Robert Lee Vesco donated huge sums of money to the Nixon campaign in a bid to ward of investigations into a financial scam involving US $ 220 Million by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Vesco later fled to Costa Rica and donated US $ 2.1 Million to a company owned by president Jose Figueres who in turn passed a law to guarantee that Vesco would not be extradited to face trial in the US.

Since money and politics are like two sides of the same coin, Kenya is not immune to such deals. Corrupt politicians and mercantile sharks will stake their money with the party or coalition most likely to win. Come next year, the victorious beneficiary regime may then be strained into complacency and acquiescence of the predicate crimes committed by these benefactors. The governing party will then use state power to obstruct or thwart investigations into party and campaign finance corruption. This explains why serious trans-national crimes such as drug trafficking, tax evasion, illicit trade in arms, human trafficking, cyber crime, smuggling and trade in endangered species sometimes appear to have the backing of officialdom. In Kenya one can add pyramid schemes, cattle rustling, poaching, violent robberies, extortion and car jacking. There is a great possibility that some politicians may be linked to attempted incidents of trade in the endangered Osyris lanceolata (Sandalwood) intercepted by the Police and Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) in Central Kenya and Rift Valley.

Policing political campaign financing is as hard as implementing price controls. Politicians and lobbyists are likely to use shell companies, charities and trusted organisations to shift funds around so that contributions from suspicious sources are disguised as legitimate and used for personal gain. The situation is more even complicated by the failure of the 9th parliament to pass the Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering (Prevention) Bill, 2004. Reputable businesses, financial and professional firms need to be more stringent to guard against being used as conduits of campaign donations derived from illicit sources. They should strictly observe the Prudential Guidelines of the Central Bank of Kenya, the Capital Markets (Securities) Regulations and the international Anti- Money Laundering Principles to guard them against loss of reputation that comes with real or perceived association with perpetrators of financial crime.

It is never in the interests of the ruling class to pass laws that hamper their ability to manoeuvre around political campaign finance. However, the best gift the 9th parliament can give Kenya is to pass the Political Parties and the Proceeds of Crime and Anti- Money Laundering Bills. This will promote and entrench transparency and accountability in the electoral process in Kenya. This could be their last saving grace after nearly 5 years of estrangement with the voters.

GENERAL ELECTIONS IN KENYA: IT IS ALL ABOUT POLITICS, NOT ECONOMIC GROWTH OR DEVELOPMENT

As Kenya approaches the next general elections, political contenders have cast away all pretensions and are engaged in real politik devoid of ethical inhibitions in their attempt to lure voters to their side. Politics is about influence, successful politics is power. Power is fundamentally about economics and money; who has what and what goes where. Whereas the method of translating political influence into power is not entirely legal, the process of exercising political power in a democracy is strictu sensu legal. The absence of legitimacy in such exercise is anarchy. Law is therefore essentially about power, who can order who to do what, when and how. Quest for political power is fundamentally a pursuit to control the lawful instruments for the mobilisation and distribution of state resources.

The results of the last three general elections indicate that victory depends on the ability to harness and galvanise tribal support for a political party rather than economic growth or development. This is an inherently destructive element in our political process. It claws on our sense of nationhood and could eventually lead to an internal collapse of the state. President Kibaki’s attempt to rally Kenyans around work and economic growth has had nominal success. His clarion call for a taifa tekelezi (working nation) has been drowned by a cacophony of noises from the opposition benches in and outside parliament. The voices of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU), the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE), Association of Kenya Insurers (AKI), Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), the Media Owners Association (MOA) and other business and professional associations have been drowned or reduced to a mere whimper in the resultant discourse on who will distribute the “National Cake” after December. It is a distressing situation because members of these associations generate the greatest percentage of state revenues which politicians are craving to control.

Politicians have perfected the art of deceit and use of ethnicity as the focal point for political mobilisation. Promise for economic development and prosperity to the “right” or politically correct communities is their bait for luring citizens to vote in a certain direction. In reality, the contestants pledge to abuse power to benefit a region or section of this country at the expense of others. None is telling citizens is that development and equitable distribution of resources is largely dependent on enhanced production and revenue collection as well as fiscal discipline in the public sector. No contender is challenging the government or providing alternatives for improving revenue collection, fighting corruption, induction of professionalism in the civil service, youth and women ventures, industrial innovation, titivating the stock exchange and infrastructural development in the roads, energy and transport sectors. We hear no talk about technological advancement, regional trade and investment, employment of our excessive human capital or the search for new markets for our agricultural, industrial and jua kali products. These will take a back seat for some time as politicians build coalitions around tribes. It is paradoxical since all the promises for free services in education, health et al are dependent on revenues which Kenyans must generate. The quest for political power should be underpinned by an authentic desire to positively synergise the citizenry towards production before any debate regarding the mobilisation and distribution of state resources amongst them. You cannot share or distribute what you do not have, period. The promotion of a national psyche which harnesses intellectual and emotional energies towards invention and commerce is a better alternative to incessant politics of subsistence.

MT. ELGON CLASHES: PRESIDENT KIBAKI SHOULD DEPLOY THE KENYA ARMY NOW.

During his recent visit to Western Province, President Kibaki ordered a decisive onslaught on the Sabaot Land Defence Forces (SLDF). In a direct affront to this directive the militia launched swift fresh attacks leaving a number of local politicians dead. This followed an earlier attempt to kill the local MP and Assistant Minister for National Development, Hon. John Serut Bomet. They also made a number of new demands which include the creation of a new district and the transfer of all Provincial Administration officers serving in Mt. Elgon region. These thinly veiled political demands by the militia are a manifestation that their grievances have graduated and escalated from demands for equitable distribution of resources to a desire for the control of a viable terrestrial economic unit or governable territory.

The primary statutory responsibility of the Armed Forces in Kenya is the defence of the territorial integrity and independence of the State. Their secondary role is to aid civil authorities in the maintenance of law and order and amelioration of civil disasters. Governments all over the world avoid involving their armed forces in containing localised armed insurrection to avoid the stringent rules of the 1949 Geneva Convention on Non-International Armed Conflicts and the 1977 Protocols additional thereto. Armed militia groups like the SLDF thrive on the logistical support of a complacent local population or a foreign power. At the moment there are no indications that the SLDF has the backing of any foreign power. The government has deployed over 600 officers from the General Service Unit (GSU), the Regular Police and the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) of the Administration Police yet the nefarious activities of the SLDF continue unabated. President Kibaki even hinted that Kenya would request Ugandan authorities to assist in apprehending SLDF militiamen who seek refugee across the border after committing atrocities across the border. Just what makes the SLDF militia such a force to reckon with?

The SLDF is adopting tactics similar to those of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda and its activities have spread fear and caused massive demographic displacement in Mt. Elgon and neighbouring districts. If not checked now, the militia could grow into a fully fledged insurgent group controlling a terrestrial economic unit. The problem of Mt Elgon may then become a Non-International Armed Conflict and this will force the government to apply the Common Geneva Conventions and United Nations (UN) Protocols while dealing with members of this rag tag army. The SLDF does not have tactical superiority over the Kenya police but a number of factors favour them. The suppression of non conventional armed groups like the SLDF requires the deployment of a security force that is highly mobile, versatile and agile. The police have done a lot to contain the situation in Mt. Elgon but the terrain does no favour their type of operations. They have to be in a state of constant mobility in order to respond to all incidents and move to hotspots where the SLDF militia attack the population. Their goals are usually to repulse or apprehend the attackers where possible. In addition the police have to investigate the actions of the SLDF like any other ordinary crime. When normality is restored the police typically move out of such an area and leave the local population to pick up the pieces and fend for themselves without a first line of defence. This leaves the population vulnerable to fresh attacks and without a proper support mechanism for a gradual return to ordinary social life.

Kenya does not have a territorial defence force to protect civil populations residing in a combat zone. Only the Kenya Armed Forces have the logistical capability and the equipment to carry out this role. The government should urgently deploy the Kenya Army to Mt. Elgon to supplement the police efforts of containing the SLDF. Whereas the Army should not get involved in direct combat with the militia it can assist in several ways. Firstly, the local population will not be left defenceless in the areas which have been cleared of the SLDF militia. Secondly, the Army will hold areas devoid of the militia as Grounds of Tactical Importance (GTI) in the security operation against the SLDF. This will give the police ample opportunity to gather crime intelligence from the local population while pursuing the criminal gang in other areas. Finally, the Army has the appropriate equipment for prolonged camping in hostile terrain where they can provide relief services such as food, clean water and medical assistance. The Army can also provide equipment and personnel to make roads and light bridges to improve vehicular mobility in the hilly terrain of Mt. Elgon. The Armed Forces Act allows the president to deploy the Kenya Armed Forces in places like Mt. Elgon where forces meant to curb internal security threats face serious logistical problems. The deteriorating situation in Mt. Elgon calls for such urgent deployment. The president will simply be discharging his constitutional responsibility as the Commander – In – Chief if he deploys the Kenya Army to Mt. Elgon.

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM) IN KENYA IS HARMFUL.

I would like to thank you for your very insightful topic on “The Unkindest Cut of All” in last Wednesday’s 16 May 2007 Living Magazine. Your article provided a graphical illustration of the traumatic effects of the harmful and archaic practice of female genital mutilation. This practice has subjected women in many parts of Africa to undue and unnecessary pain and suffering. It has denied them the opportunity to fully appreciate themselves and enjoy their humanity. The communities that practice this outdated vice have relegated their women to 2nd class citizens. The best postulation that your article brought to the fore is that those who practice the vice do it from a point of ignorance. Information on the physical and physiological effects of FGM is not readily available in many parts of Africa . The practice is hinged on mysterious and outdated cultural beliefs that have been entrenched for many centuries. Your article clearly demonstrated that many men who support this vice have never had the chance to really appreciate the physical harm that is inflicted on the women who undergo it. No sane man would support female genital mutilation after witnessing the graphical illustration of the trauma inflicted on the victims. I do not however quite agree with you that the Children’s Act, Act No 8 of 2001 will help to reduce the prevalence of this practice in Kenya. The Act became law on 31st December 2001 and expressly outlawed female genital mutilation. This has not however stemmed the practice in many parts of the country. The criminalisation of a long-standing cultural rite has forced many circumcisers to go underground with the result that the practice is now carried out in secret.

The best approach to combat this vice as you ably demonstrated is through massive public education of both men and women in the communities that practice it. These communities consider the practice as an accepted rite of passage and a standard moral norm for all their female members. Experience and research has shown that a law that is bereft of any moral content lacks the force of legitimacy to elicit voluntary compliance. Public education will help these communities to understand and appreciate the health and psychological implications of the harmful practice. Only then will they voluntarily comply with the provisions of the Children’s Act. Your article should be a wake up call to all civil societies and gender activists that point education rather than grand conferencing is the best method to reducing if not entirely eliminating the incidences of this harmful practice from our society.

Twitter: @DeCaptainCFE