EACC Issues Ultimatum to State Officers With Offshore Accounts
The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has warned state officials against maintaining offshore bank accounts to prevent the concealment of ill-gotten gains in foreign accounts.
In a letter transmitted to Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei and all Principal Secretaries, EACC Chief Executive Twalib Mbarak reminded state employees that they risk a Ksh5 million fine, a 5-year prison sentence, or both.
Mbarak noted that diplomats operating in foreign missions abroad are the only class of state officers exempt from this directive.
”The Commission is concerned that compliance with the above mandatory requirements has, to a large extent, not been complied with by State and Public officers” the commission said in its statement.
The commission reaffirmed its position that a state officer operating an offshore bank account must obtain its sanction.
”Article 76(2)(a) of the Constitution as read together with Section 19 of LIA and Regulation 14 of the LIA Regulations, 2015 provide that a State officer shall not open or continue to operate a bank account outside Kenya without the approval of EACC,” the statement read.
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Officers of the state are required to submit annual bank statements to the commission by January 31 of the year prior.
EACC elaborated on the process and provided connections where the automated declaration of offshore accounts can be completed.
The commission also reminded the officers that bank accounts opened by public officers for transitory purposes such as travel, education, or medical treatment for the officer or another individual are not exempt as long as the account is opened by the officer.
Even as Kenyans and anti-corruption watchdogs continue to express concern about public officials stashing funds stolen from Kenyan coffers in tax havens, this development has occurred.
Tax Justice Network and Global Alliance for Tax Justice’s State of Tax Justice 2020 report revealed that affluent Kenyans were hiding Ksh457 billion in offshore accounts.
Consequently, the report found that this trend deprived the nation of Ksh6.9 billion in tax revenues.
EACC Issues Ultimatum to State Officers With Offshore Accounts
