Senator Amos Wako Responds to US Travel Ban, Calls it a "Small Issue" and Says He has No Plans to Travel There
Former Attorney-General Amos Wako has played down the travel ban issued on him by the US government on Monday.
Wako, who is the current Busia Senator, dismissed the sanction as a “small issue” that will not affect his work, stating that he has no plans to travel to the US.
“Hii ni kitu kidogo sana. It will not affect my work as a senator or as a commissioner. I hope I’ll get headlines tomorrow, with my picture of smiling attorney general emeritus,” Senator Wako said during a media briefing at Parliament on Wednesday.
Wako explained that the US ban has been there since 2009 but has been resuscitated by persons with ‘interests’. He said he has only traveled to the US as a representative of the UN legal commission since 2009.
Further to this, Wako hit out at the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, questioning why his wife and son were included in the ban.
“If I committed a crime, which I emphatically deny, I should be punished alone. My son is an adult who is successful in his own right,” he added.
“They are all adults and I am wondering why they are targeting them unfairly.”
He denied claims by the US that he was involved in corruption, saying that the only allegation against him was lack of prosecution of corruption cases, a matter he says he addressed.
He challenged the US government to table evidence that he was involved in graft, pointing out that they are unable to do so in justification of the 2009 travel ban.
“When the US issued a travel ban against me in 2009, I instructed my attorney to write to them to demand this information and it was not forthcoming. I still demand to know because I have never been implicated in corruption or prosecuted for the same.”
“It took over 6 months for my attorney to receive a reply. I am a man of integrity because I have never been involved in any form of corruption,” he added.
On Monday, the US State Department sanctioned former Attorney-General Amos Wako on the grounds of “involvement in significant corruption.”
In a statement, Pompeo said the ban on Senator Wako, his wife, and son was a demonstration of the US commitment in supporting Kenya’s war on graft, which is crippling the economy.
“Today’s action sends a strong signal that the United States is a valuable partner in Kenya’s fight against corruption,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
He added: “Economic prosperity for all Kenyans is only possible by defeating the scourge of corruption, which also requires a functional, fair, and transparent criminal justice system. The United States will continue to stand with all Kenyans as they strive to curb and punish corruption in Kenya.”