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| Amos Wako |
By Maggie Fick, WASHINGTON
The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on Kenya’s
former attorney general, Amos Sitswila Wako, accusing him of involvement in
“significant” corruption, according to a statement from U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo.
Wako, who
was attorney general during Kenya’s rocky transition from one-party rule to
democracy, is barred from entering the United States under the sanctions, as
are his wife and son.
Washington
criticized Wako several times during his tenure as attorney general from 1991
to 2011 for not doing enough to crack down on corruption.
Wako has
denied any wrongdoing.
After
serving as attorney general, Wako was elected to Kenya’s senate in 2013 and was
re-elected for a second term in 2017.
“Today’s action sends a strong signal that the
United States is a valuable partner in Kenya’s fight against corruption,”
Pompeo said in a statement. He did not detail the allegations.
Wako was blacklisted
under an executive order that prohibits officials of foreign governments
involved in corruption from entering the United States, as well as their
immediate family members.
“This
designation is made under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign
Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2019 (Div. F, P.L. 116-6),
which provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible
information that officials of foreign governments have been involved in
significant corruption, those individuals and their immediate family members
are ineligible for entry into the United States,” stated Pompeo
Also affected
by the ban are Wako’s wife Flora Ngaira and his son Julius Wako. - Reuters
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