Regional anti-graft chiefs moot law to freeze stolen assets

By Alfred Wandera

Regional anti-corruption chiefs on Monday commenced deliberations in Nairobi, Kenya to enact a law that will help freeze assets obtained through corruption across East Africa.

The ombudsmen drawn from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi are in a three-day meeting under the East African Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (EAAACA).

In a telephone interview with New Vision, Inspectorate of Government (IG) spokesperson, Ali Munira, said the five East African Community member states want to have in place legislation on assets obtained through corruption as to be able to seize them and recover lost money.

“The law being mooted is to the effect that when a person is found guilty of corruptly obtaining assets, and they fail to refund the stolen money, the recovered assets can be sold to regain the money,” said Munira. She said Uganda is being represented by the deputy Inspector General of Government (IGG), George Bamugemereire.

The assets to be frozen may include monies in bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, arts and artifacts, and precious metals.

Asset recovery includes numerous processes such as the tracing, freezing, confiscation, and repatriation of proceeds stored in foreign jurisdictions, thus making it one of the most complex projects in the field of law.

According to the 2011 Global Financial Integrity report titled: “Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries over the Decade Ending 2009”, illicit financial flows, including corruption, bribery, theft and tax evasion, cost developing countries $1.26 trillion per year, which is equivalent to the economies of Switzerland, South Africa and Belgium combined.

This amount of money could lift the 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day above this threshold for at least six years, the report notes.

The Nairobi meeting is a follow-up on last year’s Executive Committee meeting that was held in Kigali, Rwanda that resulted into the establishment of the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network for East Africa (ARIN-EA), an informal international network of practitioners and experts.

ARIN-EA aims at exchanging information on individuals, companies and assets at an international level with the intention of facilitating the pursuit and recovery of proceeds of unlawful activities and to deprive criminals of their illicit profits.

The membership of the network is open to states and jurisdictions in the East African region and observer status is available for those interested states, jurisdictions and third parties which do not meet membership requirements.

The anti-graft legal framework being put in place will further put the East African Community states on the international radar as responsive to combating counter financial crimes, which include money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Despite domestic legislation in some countries allowing for the confiscation and forfeiture of proceeds of corruption, it is improvements in finance, transportation, and communications technologies in the 20th century that have made it easier for corrupt leaders and other “Politically Exposed Persons’ to conceal massive amounts of stolen wealth in offshore financial centers.

By taking advantage of differences in legal systems, the high costs in coordinating investigations, lack of international cooperation, and bank secrecy in some recipient countries, corrupt officials have been able to preserve much of their loot overseas.

EAAACA’s overall objective is to promote and facilitate regional cooperation, Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA), share information, hold joint trainings, carry out joint research and technical assistance in the prevention and combating of corruption in the East African Community region.

Every year EAAACA holds its Executive Committee and the Annual General Meetings where it receives its annual reports and ratifies the decision made in the previous meetings.