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UK to repatriate Sh450m stolen by two of Kenya’s richest men

Published

3 years ago

March 30, 2022

The United Kingdom has agreed to repatriate back to Kenya, millions of dollars of public funds allegedly stolen by two of the country’s richest men, following a landmark agreement signed in London on Monday.

The repatriation deal which Kenya struck with Jersey, a self-governing Island in the English Channel, will see the return of the sum of Sh450m allegedly stolen by Samuel Gichuru, a one time boss of Kenya’s power company and former Finance Minister, Chris Okemo

They duo allegedly siphoned the money through taking kickbacks from multinationals which they stashed in a company registered in the Island.

This arrangement, known as the Framework for the Return of Assets from Corruption and Crime to Kenya (Fracck), gives the Jersey authorities licence to unfreeze money they believe was stolen and send it back before those accused of stealing it go on trial.

The Kenyan corruption web was uncovered after Gichuru had a messy divorce from his wife, Salome Njeri, in 2006; not satisfied with the settlement she got from her estranged husband, Njeri made a report to the police alleging that some of her husband’s assets were being hidden in offshore accounts in Jersey.

The revelation led to a nine-year investigation by the Jersey authorities across 12 jurisdictions and in 2011, the duo were indicted and charged to court.

The were accused of committing economic crimes including cutting deals with a Finnish firm to construct a power station in Mombasa, Kenya’s second largest city, and taking millions of pounds in kickbacks from British, Norwegian and German engineering firms, as well as a US communications giant.

The Jersey authorities issued arrest warrants for both men and have been waiting for their extradition from Kenya ever since, while a Jersey-registered company, Windward Trading Limited, accused of laundering money for the two men, pleaded guilty to four counts of money laundering in a Jersey court.

The court ruled that the company, whose ultimate owner was revealed to be Gichuru, should be return more than $4.9m (£3.6m) to the Kenyan government.

Related Topics:corruption Featured Jersey Kenya

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Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery exports first fuel to Cameroon

Published

15 hours ago

December 12, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Dangote Refinery in Nigeria said on Wednesday that it had exported its first petrol to Cameroon, marking a significant milestone that may help stabilise gasoline costs throughout the region and open the door for regional energy integration.

When fully operational, Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote’s 650,000-barrel refinery in Lagos is intended to alter the trade of refined products in the Atlantic basin and compete with refineries in Europe.

According to a statement by Neptune Oil, an energy company based in Cameroon, both businesses were looking into new projects to create a dependable supply chain that would assist in stabilising fuel costs and opportunities throughout the area.

According to Neptune Oil, there were no middlemen involved in the petrol delivery deal.

It is anticipated that the refinery’s operations will spur growth in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors, increasing investments in cement manufacture, plastic and rubber production, chemical and pharmaceutical goods, and oil refining.

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Egypt’s November inflation drops to 25.5%, near 2-year low

Published

2 days ago

December 11, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to figures released Tuesday by statistics agency CAPMAS, Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation rate fell more than anticipated to 25.5% in November, the lowest level since December 2022.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which caused international investors to pull billions of dollars out of Egyptian treasury markets, inflation started to rise sharply in early 2022.

In September 2023, headline inflation reached a record high of 38.0%. It dropped to 26.5% by October 2024.

In a Reuters survey last month, 15 economists’ consensus prediction was for annual inflation to gradually decline to 26.4%.

According to CAPMAS statistics, headline inflation decreased from 1.1% in October to 0.5% in November every month.

Compared to October, when they fell 1.1%, food costs fell 2.8% over the month, making them 23.3% more than they were a year ago.

An increase in the money supply has been a major contributor to inflation. According to central bank data, Egypt’s M2 money supply increased by 29.54% in October compared to the same month last year.