Secret assets owned by President Uhuru Kenyatta and members of his family have been uncovered by an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
ICIJ in its dossier dubbed ‘The Pandora Papers‘ shows how corrupt world leader stole public resources and stashed billions of shillings in offshore accounts.
The investigation revealed assets of 35 current or former world leaders, including the king of Jordan, the prime minister of the Czech Republic, and President Uhuru’s fellow African leaders Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon and Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo.
The 12 million file Pandora Papers – is the biggest such leak in history – shows Uhuru and six members of his family secretly own a network of 13 offshore companies.
The Kenyattas’ offshore investments includes a company with stocks and bonds worth $30 million or Ksh3.3 billion.
The secret investments were discovered among hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative paperwork from the archives of 14 law firms and service providers in Panama and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and other tax havens.
Documents show that a foundation called Varies was set up in 2003 in Central America nation of Panama, naming President Uhuru’s mother, Mama Ngina, 88, as the first benefactor – and Uhuru himself as the second benefactor, who would inherit it after her death.
Uhuru’s other family members, including his brother and two sisters, owned five offshore companies with assets worth more than $30 million, ICIJ investigation reveals.
The Pandora Papers show that President Uhuru’s brother Muhoho Kenyatta owned three offshore companies registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), according to records: One had a bank account that held an investment portfolio worth $31.6 million in 2016; another had unspecified investments at a bank in London.
From 1999 to 2004, Mama Ngina Kenyatta and her two daughters Kristina and Anna, held shares in a BVI company, Milrun International Ltd. Uhuru’s sisters used the company to buy a London apartment in the upscale Westminster neighborhood, according to records.
Similar apartments in the modern brick building now sell for more than $1 million. The apartment was rented until July by British Labour MP Emma Ann Hardy.
Hardy’s lawyer said that she signed an ordinary rental agreement and had never heard of the company involved.
According to the ICIJ, Mama Ngina and her daughters were advised by experienced international wealth experts from the Swiss bank Union Bancaire Privée (UBP), which recruited Alcogal – a Panamanian law firm specializing in setting up and administering offshore companies.
The consortium says invoices from Alcogal to the bank show that the Swiss advisers referred to the Kenyattas with the code “client 13173”.
Alcogal provided a registered office for Milrun International Ltd in British Virgin Islands (BVI) and supplied staff members to act as the company’s official directors.
The result was an entirely anonymous company that could not be traced back to the Kenyatta family.
ICIJ reports that foundations based in Panama are much sought after because the true owners of the assets are only known by their lawyers and they do not have to register their names with the Panamanian government.
ICIJ also says Panama foundations can be designed to allow families to transfer wealth from one generation to another, tax free. Typically, an individual, or “founder,” transfers assets, such as a bank account or real estate, to the foundation, which becomes the assets’ legal owner.
It’s not illegal to run secret companies, but some have been used as a front to divert money, avoid taxes and for money laundering.
The Pandora Papers, however, shows no evidence that the Kenyatta family stole or hid state assets in their offshore companies.
Related: Revealed: How Uhuru Washed Ruto In The Multibillion Fuliza Deal
