Political class blamed for 'lukewarm' financial crimes fight

Stakeholders in the financial sector have cited a lack of political will as one of the major barriers to achieving financial integrity in Kenya.

This comes in the backdrop of Kenya’s placement on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.

Greylisting means that a country is under increased FATF monitoring due to certain deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and proliferation financing framework.

Speaking during the launch of the inaugural post-Kenya Anti-Financial Crime Summit Report in Nairobi yesterday, Flywheel Advisory Executive Director Grace Mburu said there’s a need for immediate action, noting that the grey-listing of Kenya has already had significant negative implications.

“Being greylisted means that the cost of doing business, like being given loans internationally, will be felt immediately.

This means the private sector doing business with the international community, like our banks, our correspondent banking relationships, and international business for Kenyans, have already become expensive, and because we do know that the government is even the biggest buyer,” she said.

The report, which encapsulates the discussions and insights from the inaugural Multi-Financial Crime Summit held in October last year, focuses on strategies to combat the country’s financial crime challenges.

 It was produced by Flywheel Advisory in collaboration with the Financial Reporting Centre. Ms Mburu pointed out that the report’s goal is to transition from dialogue to action. “Today, we are launching the report to say that we are moving from talking to doing,” she said.

Jubilee Holdings Group Chief Executive Julius Kipng’etich said Kenya is not lacking in laws or institutions to fight financial crimes.

 The issue, he stated, lies in the enforcement of these laws. “We have the laws; we have the institutions, but we need those in charge of enforcing them to do so effectively,” said Dr Kipng’etich.