Repatriated £3m could get more Kenyans voting

Friday 17 March 2017

Over £3 million of Kenyan money that was stashed away in Jersey could be used to get more Kenyans going to the polls.

Chief Minister Ian Gorst signed an agreement earlier this month to repatriate the money back to the African country.

Worth around 380 million Kenyan Shillings, the cash was confiscated in February last year after the Royal Court found Windward Trading Limited guilty of four counts of laundering the proceeds of corruption.

The corrupt activities were the work of Windward’s beneficial owner, Samuel Gichuru, the former Executive of Kenya Power and Lighting Company, the government’s electricity utility company.

Jersey's Court is now working to extradite Mr Gichuru and the former Energy Minister, Chrysanthus Okemo, in order that the pair can face money laundering charges on the Island.

Signing preliminary asset sharing agreement w @KeTreasury Principal Sec. Dr Kamau Thugge, following Gichuru/Windward Trading confiscation pic.twitter.com/RyN7VmdhCB

— Senator Ian Gorst (@Ian_Gorst) March 4, 2017

In the meantime, the money is making its way back to the African continent, with calls now rising for it to be spent on mass voter registration.

Lead petitioner David Gesicho says Parliament needs to engage the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission in order to get more Kenyans actively involved in choosing their leaders.

“Parliament should fast track this petition for it to have relevance otherwise it will be overtaken by events, given that the general election is barely five months away,” he said.

But there’s some difficulty with his suggestion – registrations have already closed, despite a court order requiring them to continue to May 17^th.

Kenya's electoral commission say that it’s so that they can audit the current voter database, but there are fears that the measure won’t ensure a credible poll.

Mr Gesicho is now arguing for registrations to continue from March 27^th to April 30^th and hopes that the newfound funds will help to do this.

While the money’s final destination is yet to be decided, Chief Minister commented that its repatriation alone was significant.

“The signing of this agreement conveys a powerful message that both Jersey and Kenya are committed to combatting issues of historic corruption and financial crime.”