US Says it Has Overwhelming Evidence on Senator Amos Wako’s Corrupt Activities

The US State Department has said it has overwhelming evidence that Busia Senator Amos Wako was involved in corruption.

Senator Wako engaged in the alleged corrupt activities when he served as Kenya’s Attorney-General between 1991 and 2011, a US government official told Daily Nation.

On Monday, the US imposed a travel ban on Wako, his wife Flora Ngaira and son Julius Wako on this ground.

The US official said the State Department “will not be providing further particulars on the case” but insisted that they have evidence against Senator Wako.

“While the law does not explicitly define significant corruption, we generally look at the nature of the corrupt acts, including any potential impact on US national interests. The Secretary of State has credible information that Mr. Wako was involved in significant corruption while serving as Kenya’s Attorney-General,” the State Department official said.

In a statement, the US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said Senator Wako was found to have engaged in “significant corruption”. He said the sanction on Wako and his family demonstrated the US commitment to Kenya’s graft purge. 

“Today’s action sends a strong signal that the United States is a valuable partner in Kenya’s fight against corruption.”

“ 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,” Pompeo said in a statement.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, Senator Wako played down the travel ban issued on him by the US, terming it as a “small issue” that will not affect his work.

“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.