US slaps visa bans on top ‘corrupt’ Jubilee leaders
By ELIZABETH MERAB, @emcleansThe United States (US) has slapped visa bans on a number of Kenyan individuals who have been implicated in corrupt deals.
US ambassador Robert Godec Monday said that the Barack Obama administration made the move to support President Uhuru Kenyatta’s effort in fighting corruption.
The US ambassador was among Western diplomats who on November 9 vowed to ban corrupt Kenyan officials from visiting their countries.
Mr Godec was speaking during the preparation of World Aids Day to be marked on Tuesday December 1.
CANNOT GO
“There are individuals who cannot go to the United States as a consequence of involvement in corruption,” said Godec.
He, however, did not give names nor the number of individuals who have been restricted from visiting America.
“I will not go into specifics or names right now but obviously the US is committed to doing everything it can to support the fight against corruption,” Mr Godec added.
While reiterating that corruption is a big problem which needs to be addressed, Godec said the US has taken measures to help Kenya fight the scourge.
“Obviously, corruption has become a scourge in Kenya and it is something all Kenyans need to fight against. We welcome President Kenyatta’s commitment in the many actions and activities he is undertaking to fight corruption,” he said.
HUGE CHALLENGE
“But it is critically important that there should be more progress because this is a huge challenge for everyone in this country.”
Several Cabinet secretaries in the Jubilee administration have been asked to step aside to pave the way for investigations into corruption allegations in their ministries.
They are Charity Ngilu (Land), Kazungu Kambi (Labour), Michael Kamau (Transport and Infrastructure), Davis Chirchir (Energy) and Felix Koskei (Agriculture).
Devolution CS Anne Waiguru is the most recent minister in the Jubilee administration to have resigned after questions were raised over the loss of hundreds of millions of shillings from the National Youth Service (NYS).