One can be forgiven for thinking the US is schizophrenic in its anti-corruption policies abroad. Some people are aware of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 federal law that prohibits the bribery of foreign officials. While laws exist to deny visas to corrupt foreigners seeking to enter the US, many corrupt and criminal foreigners – generally wealthy crooks – have often found refuge in the US.
More broadly, the US has done official business with thuggish leaders who’ve led killer regimes. But the US is a complex republic, or an empire, if you will, with many fish to fry. Lately, Kenya is in the crosshairs of the US for corruption. So, why is the US fighting graft in Kenya?
Let’s stipulate a few facts. The US has in different periods coddled dictators all over the world. Who doesn’t know the US overthrew Salvador Allende of Chile, a democratically elected Marxist leader, and installed Augusto Pinochet, a brutally repressive soldier who led a corrupt putschist junta for decades.
In Africa, the US propped up the notoriously corrupt regime under Daniel Arap Moi in Kenya and Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire, among others. Today, the Trump administration stands by the depraved Saudi monarchy even after the sickening murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The list goes on. But in its complex duality, the US has vigorously supported anti-corruption measures and democratic movements in Africa, Latin America and elsewhere.
Recently, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo banned from the US Kenya’s former Attorney General, Busia Senator Amos Wako. Mr Wako and his sympathisers protested that the ban came out of the blue, and was unjustified. The order banning Mr Wako and two immediate members of his nucleus family explicitly stated that he was singled out for being corrupt. What puzzled many, including seasoned observers, was why the guillotine fell on Mr Wako alone.
After all, even the chickens in the village can give an endless list of prominent corrupt Kenyans. In fact, Mr Wako – and I hold no brief for my learned friend – is hardly the most corrupt Kenyan to ever seek to enter the US. They are legion.
The US is in fact a haven for corrupt foreign political leaders and businessmen. One was Ricardo Martinelli, a billionaire supermarket magnate and Panama’s ex-president, who in 2015 fled the country hours before he was to be indicted for corruption. He lived in a posh luxury condo in Miami until he was extradited back to Panama to stand trial.
Corrupt officials fleeing prosecution from China, Colombia, South Korea, and other places have established permanent residency in the US using their ill-gotten loot. The question is why some are banned while others go scot-free. Often, some of the criminals conceal the source of their wealth, or the US system simply fails to catch them. Clearly, more anti-corruption vigilance is required.
In spite of the mixed US record of fighting corruption abroad – including supporting it in many cases – one shouldn’t allow the perfect be the enemy of the good. I would rather the US take openly public positions decrying corruption and take steps to curb it by sanctioning individuals credibly linked to corruption. Obviously, I believe the fight against graft shouldn’t be selective. The axe needs to fall on all the thieves. That’s why I welcome the public campaign by US Ambassador Kyle McCarter to call out looters and ban them from entering the US. My strong suspicion is that Mr Wako isn’t the only Kenyan on the “visa deny” list. The list could be long – very long.
I also suspect many corrupt Kenyans have applied for visas and been denied, although they will not publicly disclose that nugget. Others haven’t applied for fear of being denied. The thieves know themselves.
I have heard Mr Wako and others say they don’t want to come to the US and therefore the ban is meaningless. This is just a flat-out lie. I understand they are putting up a brave face, but no one wants to be banned from visiting a country that’s one of the world’s most favourite destinations for business, education, healthcare and leisure. It’s my hope that the US will publicly ban more corrupt Kenyans.
After all, Kenya itself appears helpless to sanction the corrupt.
Why did the US publicly ban Mr Wako now? Methinks the US is sending a strong message to the Kenya government – crack down on corrupt mandarins and we will support you in the fight. It’s signalling. The US, unlike China, also understands that a corruption-free society is better for stability and economic growth.
But the fight must – and needs to – be a Kenyan fight. Ambassador McCarter can rail at corrupt mandarins every day, but unless Kenya’s instruments of justice bring the thieves to the gallows, nothing will change.
It’s ironic, sad and a betrayal of public trust that the US is more interested in busting the corrupt than the Kenya government itself.
Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of KHRC. @makaumutua.
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