Nairobi, KENYA: Director of public prosecution Noordin Haji now wants Central Bank of Kenya to uphold its stringent measures in taming withdrawal of huge chunks of money from local banks in bid to fight terror.
Speaking at parliament buildings when he appeared before National Assembly’s legal affairs committee chaired by William Cheptumo, Haji said that banks must adhere to these stringent regulations on withdrawal of huge amounts of money; where by customers are required to disclose fully sources of cash transactions exceeding sh.1 million.
Haji said that if the stringent measures are adhered to, they will minimize cases of huge money being withdrawn and wired to facilitate terror related activities.
“All banks have been cautioned, about certain areas in the country where you operate banks, extra care must be put in place,” Haji said.
However, this development takes shape after the backlash between the Mps and CBK governor with the legislators threatening to reverse the stringent measures.
The MPs reportedly accused CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge of operating with “impunity” and threatened not to renew his term when it ends in March.
The regulation, which took effect in 2016, requires anyone withdrawing or depositing more than sh.1 million ($10,000) to fill in a special form stating where the money is from or going to, who they are paying or receiving the money from and for what purpose
Haji also complained that lack of funds has been a challenge in his docket thus slowing down execution of his mandate.
He pointed that 2019/2020 financial year money allocated to his docket amounts to sh.3.06 billion against requirement of 4.957 billion with a gap 1.921 billion.
“The country is operating under a tight fiscal and macro economic environment as reported in BPS, however, I wish to request for your intervention, in total the office seeks additional sh.750 million,” Haji said.
He also complained about low pay in his institution, whereby he is losing his staff to other institutions for lucrative pay .
