Kenya needs to urgently stamp out an upsurge of suspicious transactions in its financial sector that imperil future commercial activities and economic growth, Patrick Njoroge, the central bank governor, said on Monday.

The East African nation is favoured by foreign investors mainly due to its diverse, fast-growing economy, but its reputation has long been tainted by widespread graft and weak application of anti-money laundering laws.

The government had decided to deal with the problem “quickly and conclusively”, with the first step being the planned invalidation of the older version of its 1,000 shillings note, the governor said.

The central bank has not quantified the volume of illicit flows but there had been enough evidence to force the authorities to act, he said.

“You don’t wait until the house is really burning before you use the fire extinguisher. When you begin to smell smoke, grab that fire extinguisher and begin to deal with it,” he said.

By Duncan Miriri, Reuters, 3 June 2019

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Photo: Waceke kamau [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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