The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on Wednesday, June 12, revealed a partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to assist in repatriating proceeds of corruption stashed abroad.

EACC revealed this development following a meeting held on Tuesday with the Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray who has been in the country since June 8. 

It was further revealed that both entities had forged a partnership where the FBI is expected to enhance its support to EACC through training and acquisition of modern investigative tools and equipment.

Following Tuesday’s meeting, the FBI and the EACC will also be leveraging the exchange of information to support the tracing and recovery of corruptly acquired assets stashed abroad.

Additionally, the EACC elaborated that the commission will be targeting high-impact cases to pursue any unexplained wealth.

“Today marks a major milestone as we seek to deepen our partnership and explore areas of cooperation. With technical support from the FBI, the Commission will have a greater impact in investigating high-impact cases and robustly pursue recovery of corruptly acquired assets and unexplained wealth,” said EACC CEO, Twalib Mbarak. 

On the other hand, the FBI director enforced the FBI’s commitment to partnering with Kenya.

“I had a productive meeting with EACC CEO Mbarak and his team at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission about their important work combating corruption and promoting accountability,” stated FBI Director Wray.

“The FBI will continue to look for ways to strengthen our partnership and support EACC efforts to safeguard the rule of law and ensure public confidence in institutions,” he added.

Further, the EACC noted that the FBI had already been involved in various specialised trainings with the EACC investigators especially related to financial and economic crimes. 

According to the commission, the FBI had successfully trained EACC investigators on undercover operations, tradecraft and modern techniques in the investigation of complex financial, and economic crimes, corruption cases and recovery of corruptly acquired and unexplained wealth.

The EACC and FBI partnership will not be the first to be witnessed between the US-based entity with Kenya.

In 2020, the FBI  partnered with Kenya in creating the first Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), which was the first to be located outside of the United States. By Helen Njoroge, kenyans.co.ke