UK blames Kenya over Anglo Leasing

British High Commissioner Rob Macaire during a press conference at the UK Embassy in Nairobi on Thursday. Photo/PHOEBE OKALL

What you need to know:

  • Serious Fraud Office suspended the probe due to a lack of evidence.
  • SFO was in constant communication with AG Wako in a bid to get the evidence but in vain.

The Kenya Government failed to cooperate with the British in investigations of the Anglo Leasing scandal leading to the termination of the probe.

The Serious Fraud Office on Wednesday suspended the probe due to a lack of evidence.

British High Commissioner to Kenya Rob Macaire described the termination of the investigations as a sad day and called on the government to act on all senior officials named in graft.

He said the SFO has been investigating the Anglo Leasing scandal for more than a year and that the probe hit a snag after the Kenyan Government failed to provide the agency with evidence that could result to prosecution of the culprits.

The SFO, he said, was in constant communication with Attorney General Amos Wako in a bid to get the evidence but in vain.

“SFO has been extensively dealing with the Attorney General and asked for evidence so that it could be taken for prosecution in the UK. The evidence has not been forthcoming....Without evidence from Kenya the investigations could not go on,” he said.

The envoy said the SFO had searched premises and seized documents as part of its investigations in Switzerland, France and Spain and that it regretted the stoppage of the investigations.

A statement from the SFO on Wednesday, in part, read: “ The director of the SFO has exercised his discretion to terminate the  investigations as there is currently no reasonable prospect of conviction without the evidence from Kenya.”

The investigations into the scandal began on July 2007.

The scandal started when the government set out to replace its passport printing system. The tender was originally quoted at Sh588 million from a French firm. It was eventually awarded to a British firm, Anglo Leasing, at Sh2.9 billion.