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{
    "id": 128608,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/128608/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 448,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kenyatta",
    "speaker_title": "The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 168,
        "legal_name": "Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta",
        "slug": "uhuru-kenyatta"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, hon. Members will recall that The Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Bill was debated in this House in May, 2008 and went through the Second Reading. It, however, lapsed on 24th February, 2009 at the Committee Stage, when Parliament was adjourned and subsequently prorogued. I wish to report that we received on The Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Bill, 2008, views, concerns and proposals for amendment by various stakeholders. We also had meetings with the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade and the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs to discuss and review their concerns and proposed amendments. I am happy to report that we have incorporated the amendments that we had agreed upon, and I hope that hon. Members will appreciate our efforts towards this end. Mr. Speaker, Sir, as you are aware, money laundering is the process through which criminals disguise their origin and legitimise their ill-gotten benefits of crime. The goal of a large number of criminal acts is to generate a profit for the individual or groups that carry out the acts. To criminals, money laundering is, therefore, of critical importance as it enables them to enjoy the profits derived from criminal activities without jeopardising their sources. Money laundering is commonly referred to as “cleaning money”; a perception that gives the vice a metaphorical connotation, implying that money acquired unlawfully can be cleaned to appear as genuine. As the practice is illegal, it is transacted with a lot of secrecy, hence it is mainly operated in the underground economy. Although it may be seen as an independent crime, it has a nexus with other criminal activities that feed from it. Mr. Speaker, Sir, traditionally, money laundering was associated with disguising money acquired from proceeds of drug trafficking, but that is increasingly being viewed as limited since money acquired dubiously can be laundered. It is, therefore, prudent not to link money laundering to a particular crime, but to acknowledge that as long as there is evidence of an attempt to deal in money acquired illegally from a crime and subsequently integrating the money into the economy as genuine money, then money laundering has occurred."
}