Rich crooks make a joke of police probes

Because of its value, gold has always enthralled humanity. It has been used as a means of building and protecting wealth: Civilisations have been constructed around it; wars have been fought over it, and kings have been overthrown over this precious metal. Kenya’s rich and the mighty have for a long time dabbled in gold trade from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

So when the DRC President Laurent Kabila came calling last week over some two tons of gold smuggled from his country, which has disappeared, it was not because it is a new phenomenon but rather because of the quantities involved.