The trend of owning offshore accounts has gathered pace in recent years with state officers and elected leaders among Kenyans opening bank accounts outside the country.
However, the process of opening offshore accounts is quite an uphill task with public servants expected to first seek approval from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption (EACC).
EACC on Thursday, September 29, disclosed that the process had been digitised with the application form uploaded on their website.
A spot check by Kenyans.co.ke revealed that applicants will have to meet certain requirements before being given the green light to open an offshore account.
Most importantly, apart from personal details such as National Identification number, and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) pin, applicants have to disclose details of their employer.
Other employment details include the ministry, department, position, station and the physical address of the applicant's workstation.
Notably, one will also have to detail the country where he or she is opening the bank account, the name of the bank and the type of account to be opened.
"Also fill in the monthly salary (basic and allowances) and expected annual turnover or expenditure," reads the application form.
Additionally, one must also include the reason for opening the account.
In the event an account is opened with others as beneficiaries such as spouses and children, an applicant has to detail the names of the beneficiaries including the relationship with the account holder.
"Where the account is meant for school fees transactions, the applicant shall in addition to the other relevant documents attach the admission letter or other relevant documentation from the learning institution," reads the application in part.
The application must then be stamped by officials of the foreign bank before being submitted for approval.
State officers risk a Ksh5 million fine should they provide false information as per the Leadership and Integrity Act, 2012.
