American alleges MP joined drugs trade while in police force

A US Treasury Department official has alleged that the Kenyan MP named by President Barack Obama as an international drug trafficker may have begun his involvement in the narcotics trade while serving in the police force and while travelling abroad to take part in shooting competitions.

The US official describes Mr John Harun Mwau as an active importer of drugs into Kenya and a protector of narcotics traffickers. (READ: Obama targets Mwau in drug war)

Ms Naima Mohamed Nyakiniywa, the other Kenyan named by President Obama as a drug kingpin, is “the head of one of the largest drug trafficking organisations operating out of Nairobi,” the official says.

Her network co-ordinates heroin, cocaine and drug-related chemical shipments to various locations in Africa, Europe and the United States, the US Treasury source told the Sunday Nation.

Drug trafficking through Kenya was described in April by then US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger as “a very serious problem”.

In an interview with the Associated Press shortly before leaving his post in Nairobi, Mr Ranneberger added: “We have seen a steady increase in narcotics trafficking in Kenya over the past five years and even before that ... it is extensive. At this point it reaches to very senior political levels.”

Mr Mwau was mentioned in regard to the narcotics trade in a 2006 diplomatic cable published earlier this year by WikiLeaks and noted last week by the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Mwau resigned as assistant minister for Trade in December after Mr Ranneberger asked Kenyan authorities to investigate his links to drug trafficking.

Under the 1999 US law officially entitled the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, the two Kenyans will be denied access to the US financial system. Specifically, any of their assets under American jurisdiction will be frozen.

The embattled Kilome MP has taken his latest battle with the US to the High Court. Mr Mwau also blamed his inclusion on a list of drug barons on forces out to grab his businesses in the country. (READ: Mwau moves to court in latest battle with US)

However, the MP only disclosed that he owned several real estate properties and a bank account in America.

“The truth of the matter is that some people in the US are after my businesses; they should tell me politely if they want me to surrender the businesses to them, but not use unorthodox tactics to secure what is rightfully my sweat,” the MP said.

“With all their state-of-the-art surveillance, why didn’t they detect my said criminal nature for all those years?” he asked, adding:

“I have stated this before and I am repeating it. I have never and will never be involved in drug trafficking or other ills that present a negative picture.”

The MP blamed his woes on Mr Ranneberger, saying he had fed President Obama with malicious reports about him.

“The US embassy has been trailing me using its vehicles. The first incident, which I reported to the police, was in January this year; the second incident happened soon after I filed a case against the then US ambassador Michael Ranneberger,” he said.

The defiant MP said the sanctions will not cripple his business empire.