The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has cautioned state officers against operating offshore bank accounts in a move geared at preventing stashing proceeds of corruption in foreign bank accounts.
In a letter copied to Head of Public Service Felix Koskei and all Principal Secretaries, EACC Chief Executive Twalib Mbarak reminded state officers that they risk being fined Ksh5 million, a prison sentence of 5 years, or both.
Mbarak observed that the only cadre of state officers exempted from this directive are diplomats serving in foreign missions abroad.
''The Commission is concerned that compliance with the above mandatory requirements has, to a large extent, not been complied with by State and Public officers'' the commission said in its statement.
The commission reiterated the stance that a state officer operating an offshore bank account requires approval from the commission.
''Article 76(2)(a) of the Constitution as read together with Section 19 of LIA and Regulation 14 of the LIA Regulations, 2015 provide that a State officer shall not open or continue to operate a bank account outside Kenya without the approval of EACC,'' the statement read.
State officers are required to submit annual bank statements to the commission not later than January 31 of the preceding year.
EACC further outlined the procedure and provided links where the automated process of declaring offshore accounts can be done.
The commission further reminded the officers that bank accounts opened by public officers for temporary purposes such as facilitation of travel, education, or medical treatment for the officer or any other person are not exempted as long as they are opened by the officer.
This comes even as Kenyans and anti-graft watchdogs continue to express concerns over public officials stashing funds looted from Kenyan coffers in tax havens.
The State of Tax Justice 2020 report released by Tax Justice Network and Global Alliance for Tax Justice showed that wealthy Kenyans were hiding Ksh457 billion in offshore accounts.
As such, the report observed that this trend denied the country Ksh6.9 billion in tax revenues.
