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Kenya has found itself in a list of shame that showed how poor countries stashed huge amounts of foreign aid into offshore accounts.
The World Bank published a report titled Elite Capture of Foreign Aid Evidence from Offshore Bank Accounts - which included Kenya as one of the notorious poor countries which have huge amounts stored in foreign bank accounts.
Kenya was ranked second with Sh306 billion meant for aid having been transferred to foreign accounts – out of which Sh128 billion was stashed in tax havens widely associated with corruption and tax evasion.
Jordan was ranked at position one among aid 22 aid dependent countries that were included in the study which considered data from 2009 to 2019.
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The Middle Eastern country stashed Sh313 billion in foreign accounts – out of which Sh204 billion was stashed in tax havens
Other countries on the list of shame included DRC Congo, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Bosnia.
“Aid capture by ruling politicians, bureaucrats and their cronies is consistent with the totality of observed patterns: it can explain why aid does not trigger flows to non-havens, why the capital outflows occur precisely in the same quarter as the aid inflows and why the estimated effects are larger for more corrupt countries,” the report read in part.
The inclusion of Kenya in the list of shame has come at a time when Kenyans have been complaining over the use of Sh1 billion extended by the World Bank to help the country fight coronavirus.
In a blatant demonstration of misplaced priorities, the Ministry of Health’s budget for the Sh1 billion meant for emergency response included Sh42 million for leasing ambulances (already spent), Sh10.12 million for tea and snacks (Sh4 million already spent), and Sh6 million for airtime (Sh2 million already spent).
Another Sh70 million is allocated to communications without a clarification on the nature of the communications. The money is indicated as being already spent.