JURIST - Paper Chase: Kenya lawmakers limit corruption investigations

[JURIST] Kenyan lawmakers have approved a bill limiting the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) [official website] to investigating crimes committed after 2003. The amendment, deleting portions of the 2003 Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act [text], will make it impossible for the commission to continue investigations into some of the country's most notorious corruption cases [JURIST report], involving millions of dollars in a state where most citizens live on less than a dollar a day. One investigation which will be forced to end is the probe of the $1 billion scam known as the Goldenberg Affair [BBC report; Wikipedia backgrounder]. Four senior Kenyan officials and a top businessman were charged for their roles in the case [JURIST report] last year.

Kenyan Justice Minister Martha Karua [Wikipedia profile], who argued against the amendment, called the move a "deadly blow" to the KACC, pointing out that many past economic crimes remained to be investigated. Karua also noted that the lawmaker who proposed the amendment, Paul Muite, was allegedly connected to the Goldenberg scandal. She described Muite's interest in the KACC as "obvious", and his amendment "mischievous". BBC News has more.

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