The Kenyatta family’s hidden assets have been revealed, with pandora papers showing that the family has secretly owned a network of offshore companies for decades.
The Pandora papers contained about 12 million files and were the most significant leak in history, revealing that Kenyatta and six family members were linked to 13 offshore companies.
Uhuru Kenyatta stated he would respond fully to the leak once he returned from his state visit abroad.
Kenyatta’s offshore investments, including a company with an estimated $30 million in stocks and bonds, 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 tax havens.
Uhuru Kenyatta said that the investigation would increase Kenya’s financial transparency and openness and the rest of the world’s requirements.
According to an investigation published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Finance Uncovered Africa Uncensored, and other new organization documents, a foundation called Varies was established in Panama in 2003, naming Kenyatta’s mother Ngina Kenyatta, aged 88, as the first benefactor and the Kenyan president as the second benefactor who would inherit it after her death. However, the foundation’s purpose and the value of its assets are unknown.
According to ICIJ reports, Panamanian foundations are in high demand because the actual owners of the assets are only known to their lawyers. They do not register their names with the Panamanian government, and assets can be structured so that they are tax-free transferred to a successor.
Although there is no reliable estimate of the Kenyatta family’s net worth, they have extensive business interests in Kenya, including transport insurance, hotels, farming, land ownership, and the media industry.
Uhuru Kenyatta told Hardtalk, a BBC program, in 2018 that his family’s wealth was known to the public and that he had declared his assets as required by law. He stated, “As I have always stated, what we own – what we have – is open to the public. As a public servant I’m supposed to make my wealth known and we declare it every year.”
He added, “If there’s an instance where somebody can say that what we have done or got has not been legitimate, say so – we are ready to face any court.”
During an interview with Hard Talk, Uhuru Kenyatta stated he wanted to leave a legacy of fighting corruption and promoting transparency and promised to work with parliament to draft legislation requiring public officials to declare their wealth.
Uhuru Kenyatta is not the only Kenyan president who has had controversial stories about his assets. According to a leaked report in 2014 by the International Risk Consultancy Kroll, outgoing president and friend to the Kenyatta family allegedly moved money out of the country.
The Pandora papers feature Uhuru Kenyatta and world leaders such as Jordan’s King Abdullah II, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Gabon’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba, and Congo-Brazzaville President Denis Sassou-Nguesso.
What are Pandora Papers?
Pandora Papers are leaks of over 12 million documents revealing hidden wealth, tax evasion, and money laundering by some of the world’s wealthiest and influential people.
Over 600 journalists from 117 countries sift through files from 14 sources for months to find stories to publish. Data got by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in Washington DC, working on its global investigation with over 140 media organizations.
With over 6.4 million documents, nearly three million images, a million emails, and almost 500,000 spreadsheets, the files expose some of the world’s most influential people, including 330 politicians from 90 countries, who use secret offshore companies to hide their wealth.
According to Pandora papers, it reveals complex networks of companies set up across borders, resulting in hidden ownership of money and assets. For instance, someone may have a property in the UK but own it via a chain of companies based in other countries or “offshore”.
It is easy to set up companies offshore. Laws make it challenging to identify owners of companies and have low or no corporation tax. These places are known as tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions.
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