Interior Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang'i noted that illegal second-hand car dealers colluded with unscrupulous politicians to facilitate funds to be used in criminal activities.
Speaking during the launch of the inaugural Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing National Risk Assessment Report (2021), on Wednesday, July 27, Matiang'i noted that such motor vehicle dealers bribed their way into the industry as they operated without permits.
Matiang'i added that during the phasing out of old generation notes, the dealers moved billions, raising questions as to the source of their load of cash.
The CS noted that his ministry alongside the National Police Service (NPS) would crack down on illegal dealers.
"Car dealers changed billions of shillings. How many cars do you need to sell to be able to have billions and all these dealers are friends of senior politicians? They are now the ones financing all these Ksh200 and Ksh500 notes in the villages and so on."
"I have been fighting people called second-hand motor vehicle dealers, two-thirds don't have permits but they are operating because they have paid some of your people and they bribe them every day. We need to scan this environment and see what we need to do in terms of reinforcement," he stated noting that as a result, the country faced a shortage of Ksh200 notes.
He added that his Ministry would look into issues surrounding the immigration department to deal with cases of foreigners suspected of colluding with politicians.
"Let's see how we can make frontline institutions in the regulatory infrastructure more effective. If immigration is not effective in terms of the issuance of work permits, we end up with cases we have been dealing with."
"I have previously been called to Parliament to defend foreign investors, walking around with senior politicians, who don't have a bank account. Now we have Venezuelans. If that is not stopped, we will have more problems," he pointed out.
Matiang'i promised that firm action would be taken against suspected money launderers commonly referred to as wash wash- linked to financing terror activities.
