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"id": 194653,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. M'Mithiaru",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also stand up to support the Bill. First of all, I would like to say that this Bill is long overdue. I have been working in the banking sector, and know that this issue came up a long time ago, though not in this form. Let me commend the Minister for bringing this Bill to the House. May 8, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 953 Secondly, let me state that when we talk about money laundering, it has many facets as enumerated in the provisions of this Bill. It touches on terrorism, drugs money, corruption and gifts. That is why some of my colleagues are saying that it is the Anti-Terrorism Bill brought in another form. I would like to say that money laundering has no boundaries. When we say that we have a Bill that is home-grown, that does not really address the issue. We know very well that these days the world is a global village. Whatever is happening elsewhere in the world affects us here in Kenya. There is no way we can have a Bill particularly segregated to serve Kenyans' interest. It is not possible to have such a Bill. Money laundering is mostly a cross-border matter. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me talk about the financial market. It is the only market that is there for 24 hours. It is in this market that most of the activities of money laundering would be going through. Unless this issue is addressed so that we know where money launderers can be intercepted, then it will not be business as usual, if we say we just do a home-grown law. We have to address this issue properly because it touches all over the world, taking into account that Kenya is a signatory to most of the UN conventions and the Basel Accord, which talks quite a bit on money laundering issue. Whereas we are talking about this Bill, we should also address other international issues. We have to conform and address the issues that touch on international recognition of money transactions. I want to point out that, as we go through this Bill--- Fortunately, I am also a member of the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade, and I am sure I will have an opportunity to go through the Bill clause by clause. It is true that no Act can be 100 per cent, but to me, when I had a glance of this Bill, I think most of the issues have actually been covered. What needs to be addressed is the issue of having many committees. I agree that sometimes where money is involved, if it passes through many stages of committee consideration, we may not be able to intercept money launderers early enough. So, I would suggest that we look into the issue of Anti-Money Laundering Advisory Council, the Board on the Financial Reporting Centre and the Board on the Assets Acquisition. I think we need to look at those issues to see whether the committees can be reduced so that it can be easier and quicker to address any issues that would come. The other issue is about the reporting institutions where they are supposed to report any suspicious amount that is more than 10,000 dollars. There is a loophole here because it is always easy for somebody to break down the transactions so that they do not reach that threshold of reporting. I am sure those issues can be addressed and the regulations can provide for that. To the reporting institutions, there has to be a caution. In the event that there is malicious reporting; any malicious reporting that touches on an individual may be flashed in the newspapers or other media channels. So, if at the end of it all, such reports are proved to be wrong, it would be too dangerous to those reporting institutions. We need to look into those issues so that the reporting institutions are held accountable for whatever they report. That way, we would not have the malicious reporting I have just talked about. What has been missing; like I know in the banking industry, even today, they have what we call \"suspicious entries\". In a very discrete way, the banks would call the account holders so that they go through a screening process. If they convince that it is their money, then that would rest the matter. So, the same process should apply here when it comes to seizing of property. It is good before an asset is branded \"suspicious\" that the due process of law is followed to protect property owners from public ridicule. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am a member of the Departmental Committee on Finance, Planning and Trade and I will have an opportunity to look at the Bill. I persuade the Members to support this Bill as I do. Thank you so much."
}