{"id":431959,"date":"2011-05-29T07:22:20","date_gmt":"2011-05-29T07:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/29\/fraudsters-to-pay-heavy-price-under-new-amnesty-rules\/"},"modified":"2011-05-29T07:22:20","modified_gmt":"2011-05-29T07:22:20","slug":"fraudsters-to-pay-heavy-price-under-new-amnesty-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/fraudsters-to-pay-heavy-price-under-new-amnesty-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Fraudsters to Pay Heavy Price Under New Amnesty Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Business Daily<\/a> (Nairobi)<\/p>\n

26 May 2011<\/p>\n

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Beneficiaries of corruption who seek amnesty will be required to repay all stolen property with an additional annual interest charge of 12 per cent.<\/p>\n

This is one of a raft of new regulations that seek to ease the recovery of fraudulently acquired wealth by guaranteeing suspects immunity from prosecution.<\/p>\n

The rules on amnesty and restitution are seen as a major boost in the fight against corruption, which often gets lost in long-drawn-out court procedures and the lack of capacity to prosecute numerous fraud cases by public officials.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Finance estimates that about one-third of Kenya’s budget – which translates to about Sh300 billion going by last year’s expenditure estimates – is lost through embezzlement by civil servants colluding with private contractors.<\/p>\n

The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes (Amnesty and Restitution) Regulations, 2011 were gazetted last week by Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo.<\/p>\n

Analysts said the rules bring back to life the dormant provisions of Section 25 (A) 3 and 56 (B) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act 3 of 2003 that provide for amnesty and restitution in corruption matters.<\/p>\n

Individuals or parties who voluntarily come forward to repent their crimes and hand back any property and financial assets acquired illegally will be granted amnesty.<\/p>\n

“It is believed that amnesty avoids endless investigations, saving time, energy and resources and assists in recovery from foreign jurisdictions,” said Mr Pravin Bowry, an assistant director with the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC), in a commentary. “The granting of amnesty has been held to be a useful tool in advancing anti-corruption reforms and to the discovery of corruption cartels, which would never otherwise come to light.”<\/p>\n

According to the new regulations, the process of granting amnesty will start after a suspect makes a full and true disclosure of all material facts relating to corruption or economic crime committed and pays or refunds KACC or persons affected any property or money irregularly obtained with interest. The suspect is also obligated to make reparation and pay for all loss of public property occasioned by corrupt conduct.<\/p>\n

“The new laws would to some extent help make recoveries from the big faces behind grand corruption who may be embarrassed in making public court appearances. Such as settlement may help keep the veil on them and save them the embarrassment,” Mr James Mwamu, a lawyer said.<\/p>\n

“A lot of such cases of persons surrendering title deeds illegally acquired in the past have already been recorded.”<\/p>\n

Section 56 (B) of the new regulations permits KACC to tender an undertaking in writing not to institute criminal proceedings where a suspect voluntarily pays or deposits proceeds of corrupt transactions or returns property unlawfully obtained.<\/p>\n

The whole process must however be registered with a court of law to make it binding to all parties involved. A suspect will be required to provide truthful and accurate disclosures of all property illegally acquired and those intended to be surrendered. Failure to provide accurate and true information is punishable by revocation of the whole amnesty process and the suspect charged with the offence.<\/p>\n

In the new laws, KACC is mandated to publish at least twice every year, and in at least two national newspapers, invitations to interested parties to apply for amnesty.<\/p>\n

An Amnesty Committee of KACC will, however, hold the right to determine whether to give or deny a suspect an amnesty undertaking, upon consultation which must all be in writing.<\/p>\n

KACC is required to provide any undertaking in the newspapers before tendering any undertaking for amnesty and party or citizen has a right to object to such moves.<\/p>\n

“The Commission shall facilitate the restitution of the property or money paid or refunded to, or deposited with the Commission for, all affected persons by a suspected person under section 25 A (3) (b) to the rightful owner within a period of six months of the date of payment, refund or deposit,” the new regulations said in part adding that the Commission may impose conditions for such restitution and recover any costs incurred in the restitution process.<\/p>\n

According to the new laws, where the owner of the property or money paid or refunded to, or deposited with the Commission under section 25A(3)(b), cannot be traced or identified after a period of six months from the time of notice of identification, the property shall be forfeited to the Government.<\/p>\n

The property or money that is forfeited to the Government under regulation 11(2) shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.<\/p>\n

Mr Mwamu however said the new rules may not be effective because of political patronage.<\/p>\n

“Most of those behind grand corruption conveniently align themselves with the ruling political groups to cover for their deeds and this culture is not about to die away anytime soon.”<\/p>\n

He said the new rules may favour recovery of physical property such as houses as opposed to financial assets.<\/p>\n

Mr Bowry, however, said amnesty provided room for reforms and urged for its adoption.<\/p>\n

“Amnesty in criminal cases negates the objectives or criminal responsibility, and diminishes the effect of sanctions. In transitional justice, however, it is believed internationally to be a noble cause of breaking away from atrocities of the past while charting the future.”<\/p>\n

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Continued here:
\nFraudsters to Pay Heavy Price Under New Amnesty Rules<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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