09nairobi1829, Visas Donkey, Corruption 212(f) Visa Denial

8/7/2019 09nairobi1829, Visas Donkey, Corruption 212(f) Visa Denial

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//wikileaks.ca/cable/2009/09/09NAIROBI1829.html[3/7/2011 7:57:54 PM]

ZCZCXYZ0002P RUEHWEB

E RUEHNR #1829/01 2440858NY SSSSS ZZH010858Z SEP 09

M AMEMBASSY NAIROBIO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0826NFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3308HEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

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9.01.2009 08:589NAIROBI1829mbassy NairobiECRET8STATE81854ZCZCXYZ0002P RUEHWEB

E RUEHNR #1829/01 2440858NY SSSSS ZZH010858Z SEP 09

M AMEMBASSY NAIROBIO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0826NFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3308HEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITYAGS: CVISKCORKCRMPGOVPRELECONKEUBJECT: VISAS DONKEY: CORRUPTION 212(F) VISA DENIAL

EF: A. 2008 STATE 81854

e c r e t nairobi 001829

ensitiveipdis

ept for a/s carson, inl/c/cp, jane becker; nsc for seniorirector gavin

.o. 12958: decl: 08/27/2019ags: cvis, kcor, kcrm, pgov, prel, econ, keubject: visas donkey: corruption 212(f) visa denial

ef: a. 2008 state 81854. Td-314/081112-08

. Td-314/081567-08. Td-314/083973-08

lassified By: Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, Reasons 1.4 b,d

1. (C) Embassy is seeking a security advisory opinion underection 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),roclamation 7750, precluding the entry into the Unitedtates of Henry Kiprono Kosgey and his family. Kosgey wasorn in Nandi district, Rift Valley Province, Kenya on July4, 1947. There is strong evidence that Kosgey hasonsistently engaged in official corruption from at least987 to the present while holding a variety of ministerialnd parastatal director positions, and that corruption hasad serious adverse effects on both U.S. foreign assistanceoals and on the stability of Kenya's democraticnstitutions. The following provides information requested in

ef A, paragraphs 26-28.2. (C) Like many members of Kenya's political elite, Kosgeyas had a long career in politics and served in numerousinisterial positions under the kleptocratic administrationf former President Daniel arap Moi. He has, however, alsoontinued to enrich himself at the public's expense whileerving as a member of Parliament (MP), as director of thearastatal and now bankrupt Kenya National Assurance Companynd as Minister for Industrialization under the currentoalition government.

3. (C) Kosgey was first elected as MP of Tinderetonstituency in Rift Valley Province in 1979 under Moi'senya African National Union (KANU) party. (Note: At thatime, Kenya was a single-party state.) He was re-elected as
http://wikileaks.ca/tag/CVIS_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/KCOR_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/KCRM_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/PGOV_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/PREL_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/ECON_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/KE_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/KE_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/ECON_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/PREL_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/PGOV_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/KCRM_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/KCOR_0.htmlhttp://wikileaks.ca/tag/CVIS_0.html


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P in 1983, 1988, 1992, 1997, 2002, and 2007, when he ran ascandidate under Prime Minister Raila Odinga's Orangeemocratic Movement (ODM) party. After becoming an MP, Kosgeyerved under Moi as Minister for Transport and Communications1980-1985), Minister for Cooperatives Development1985-1986), and Minister for Culture and Social Services1987-1988). Kosgey, like Moi, is an ethnic Kalenjin fromift Valley province. Although he is a member of the Nandiub-tribe and not Moi's Tugen sub-tribe, he was for manyears a close and trusted associate of the former president.rom 1989 to 1992, he served as Executive Chairman of theow-defunct parastatal Kenya National Assurance CompanyKNAC). From 1993 to 1996, he served as an MP but did not

old a cabinet position. In 1996, he reentered the cabinethen he was appointed by Moi as Minister for Environment andatural Resources (1996-1997). He subsequently served asinister for Tourism (1998-1999), Minister for Science andechnology (1999-2001), and Minister of Education2001-2002). During President Kibaki's first term2003-2007), Kosgey reinvented himself as an ODM MP after Moieft power in 2002. Following the formation of the coalitionovernment in February 2008, he was appointed by Primeinister Odinga as head of the newly-created Ministry ofndustrialization, a post he currently holds. He is also theurrent chairman of ODM.

mbezzling funds, looting parastatal assets

4. (C) Open source reporting alleges that, when serving asinister of Culture and Social Services, Kosgey was part of

he team that brought in American marketing consultant Dickerg to assist Kenya in organizing and hosting the fourthll-Africa Games in 1987. Berg's task was to assist the GOKn raising funds to support the games; he is accused ofleeing the country with roughly $2.6 million before theames began. Kosgey is also alleged to have participated inhe looting of the assets of the Games' organizing committeey misappropriating funds designated for costs associatedith the Games for his personal use. Kosgey is also accusedf looting the real estate assets of former parastatal Kenyaational Assurance Company (KNAC) when he served as itsirector from 1989 to 1992. Under his management, KNAC islso alleged to have made illegal loans and paid outradulent claims to politically connected individuals. Byllegally appropriating KNAC's most valuable assets, Kosgeyeduced the company to an undercapitalized shell thatltimately collapsed and failed to meet its financial

bligations to pension and life insurance policy holders. Athe time the KNAC went into receivership, it held more than13 million in life insurance policies. As a result of theollapse of KNAC, 900 employees lost their jobs and thousandsf Kenyans from all walks of life lost their pensions or didot receive insurance payments upon the deaths ofeneficiaries. The former employees also allege that theompany owes them an estimated $655,000 in pension benefits.

ccused of grabbing public lands

5. (C) When President Kibaki first took office in 2003, herdered a number of commissions of inquiry aimed at examiningnd correcting some of the worst corruption excesses of theoi era. Unfortunately, once the first blush of reformisteal had passed, there was almost no accountability for thosefficials named in the commissions' reports or implementation

f the commissions' corrective recommendations. The Ndung'uommission was constituted in 2003 to investigate "irregularllocation" or illegal privatization of public land in urbanreas, settlement schemes, forests, and reserves during theoi era. Its report, released in December 2004, was more than,000 pages long with annexes and provided the mostomprehensive analysis to date of shady land deals during theoi years (1978-2002). The commission recommended theevocation of hundreds of land allocations, including many toast and current political figures. To date, none of theseevocations have been implemented despite pledges by currentinister of Lands James Orengo to do so.

6. (C) Kosgey (along with fellow minister Sally Kosgei) isamed in the Ndung'u report as the improper recipient of morehan 300 hectares of the South Nandi forest in 1999.ccording to local anti-corruption NGO Mars Group Kenya, the


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llegal carving out of a total of 1,170 hectares of forestand was supposed to be part of a land swap in which Kosgeynd two other politicians would exchange the forest land forarmland held by local farmers and the minority Ngerekommunity. When the exchange took place, many of the intendedeneficiaries were excluded and rendered landless. In 1995,osgey was serving on the board of directors of Kakuzi Teaompany, which is still in existence and is publicly tradedn the Nairobi and London stock exchanges. He is accused ofolluding with other corrupt directors in stripping Kakuzi ofome of its prime assets by illegally transferring 97ectares of Siret Farm (a tea plantation) to the Tinderetevelopment Trust Company, a shell company co-owned by Kosgeynd his son Allan. In the face of declining global tea pricesnd burdened by debt of more than $8.5 million, Kakuzi puthe remainder of Siret Farm up for public sale in 2007.

nvolvement in post-election violence and opposition toccountability

7. (S) In October 2008, Kosgey was named in the report of theommission to Investigate Post-Election Violence (CIPEV),ommonly known as the Waki Commission after its chairman,ustice Philip Waki. The report alleged that Kosgeyarticipated in incitement, planning, and illegal financingf post-election violence in and around his ruralonstituency of Tinderet in the Nandi Hills district of Riftalley province. Tinderet is a tea-growing area, and many teaickers working on the plantations hail from western Kenyand are ethnic Luo or Luhya. Many workers and their families,ho usually live in company-owned housing on the largerlantations, fled or were driven out of the area during theost-election violence by groups of youths who resentedon-Kalenjins being employed in the local tea industry.

8. (C) When the report was released, Kosgey joined a numberf his fellow ODM MPs in rejecting the Waki Commission'sindings, despite Odinga's public statements that the Wakieport's recommendations be fully implemented. Keyecommendations included setting up a local special tribunalo try persons suspected of participating in post-electioniolence and/or sending the dossiers on these individuals tohe International Criminal Court (ICC) for potentialrosecution. In his capacity as ODM chairman and as an MP,osgey has repeatedly and publicly rejected both the localribunal and ICC options, joining some of the other MPs namedn the Waki report as instigators in calling instead for

ealing and reconciliation. In public remarks on October 14,008, Kosgey stated that "the people in that list were notiven a chance to defend themselves. That is very unfair."

uestions on the maize scandal

9. (C) In early 2009, a national scandal erupted when aumber of prominent politicians, including Minister ofgriculture William Ruto, were accused of speculating inovernment-subsidized maize designated to feed the hungryfter the planting cycle was disrupted in many growing areasy the post-election violence. (Note: Kosgey's constituencyas among those most affected, as it is located near thepicenter of inter-ethnic violence in Rift Valley province.)wenty-one MPs and three ministers, including Kosgey, wereummoned for questioning by investigators at the Kenyanti-Corruption Commission (KACC) in February 2009. Local

edia reported that Kosgey was asked about letters he sent tohe National Cereals and Produce Board requesting anllocation of subsidized maize.

iring and firing without transparency

10. (C) As Minister of Industrialization, Kosgey isesponsible for overseeing the operation, management, andrivatization of the Kenyan government's ten stateorporations. He also oversees the implementation of theOK's new "quality mark" requirement without which many goodsannot be sold in Kenya. Many private sector companies,ncluding major U.S. companies like Eveready and Sara Lee,ave protested this new requirement adds unreasonable costso importing goods and discriminates against productsanufactured outside Kenya. Major private sector advocacyroups, including the Kenya Association of Manufacturers


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KAM), have also noted the great potential for corruption inmplementation of the new quality mark requirement. In June009, KAM also accused Kosgey of illegally and unilaterallyemoving some of the private sector members of the board ofhe Kenya Bureau of Standards, the entity charged withmplementing the quality mark program. xxxxxxxxxxxx have told us that they have crediblenformation that Kosgey is benefitting illegally from themposition of the quality mark requirements (i.e., by takingribes from local producers in lieu of their actualompliance with the new quality standards) and that he iseeply involved in corruption.

11. (C) In July 2009, Kosgey was publicly accused by his

ssistant Minister Nderiti Mureithi (a member of Kibaki'sarty of National Unity) of improperly firing three heads ofarastatals (the Industrial Development Bank, the Kenyandustrial Research and Development Institute, and the Kenyandustrial Estates) without following proper procedures andithout consulting the boards of directors of thoseompanies. In an interview with national TV outlet NTV,ureithi called Kosgey "a throwback to the dark days of theoi era" and alleged that the three directors werenilaterally fired by Kosgey without any consultation andeplacements selected by him without a transparent orompetitive recruitment process as required by Kenyan law.dinga ultimately had to intervene in the dispute and orderedhat the directors remain in office until the correctrocedures could be instituted to remove them.

egative impact on u.s. National interests

12. (S) Stability of Democratic Institutions and Impact on.S. Businesses: Kosgey's involvement in incitingost-election violence in Rift Valley province directlyontributed to the deaths and displacement of Kenyans andignificantly undermined the stability and security of theegion. Non-Kalenjin tea workers had to flee their jobs andhe tea industry was hit hard by the disruption of productionnd interference with local transport routes. Displacementsn the region also disrupted the planting and harvestingycles and directly contributed to hunger and officialnvolvement in speculation in the maize market. Kosgey'sorrupt activities also have an adverse impact on U.S.ational interests in promoting the reform agenda agreed uponn the Annan accord. Because he is an influential voice inhe Kalenjin community, Kosgey's repeated public oppositiono prosecution of perpetrators of violence, either locally or

nternationally, has contributed to undermining publiconfidence in the judiciary and will make it much moreifficult to pursue accountability in these cases. Hisxtensive illegally-acquired land holdings will motivate himo oppose meaningful land reform legislation when it comes upn parliament later this year. He is also likely to opposeeform-oriented land policy changes in a new constitution.is corrupt and unfair application of the quality markrogram has had a direct discriminatory impact on importersnd vendors of U.S. products in Kenya.

13. (C) U.S. Foreign Assistance Goals: Kosgey's diverseorruption activities over decades have negatively impacted.S. foreign assistance goals in a number of ways. Hisontinuing ownership of illegally transferred forestry lands,art of the greater Mau Forest which comprises Kenya'sargest water catchment area, has contributed to ethnic

onflict over land ownership in Rift Valley, and has alsoontributed to deforestation and resulting drought and hungerhat currently plagues Kenya. Donors, including the Unitedtates, have had to provide billions of dollars in emergencyood aid to Kenya over the last four years of chronicrought, even in areas of Rift Valley that were historicallyhe most agriculturally productive regions of Kenya. Hisooting of public and private company assets underminenvestor confidence, directly create job loss, and damageublic confidence in the security of pension funds. Kosgeyas repeatedly ignored government regulations for hiring andiring directors of parastatals and, through these actions,ignals a profound disrespect for the rule of law which were striving to promote.

dditional information required for finding


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14. (C) Kosgey has not been informed that he may beneligible for a U.S. visa under section 212(f) of the INAnd Proclamation 7750.

15. (C) Kosgey last traveled to the U.S. in November 2006. Hepplied for and was issued U.S. visas in 1997, 1999, 2003,004, 2005, and 2006 (all G2 visas). His most recentpplication was for a G2 visa to attend a parliamentary forumt the UN General Assembly in New York. He was issued a G2ultiple-entry, 3-month visa on November 2, 2006 iniplomatic passport D006890. He has not applied for a visaince 2006. As a sitting minister and member of parliament,e may intend to apply for a U.S. visa for eitherrofessional or personal travel. However, we do not have anylear indication that he intends to apply soon. He has twoons who have made forays into politics: Allan Kosgey, who isco-director of the Tinderet Development Trust with hisather, and youngest son Alex Kosgey, an aspiring MP.

16. (C) Since almost the beginning of his long politicalareer, Kosgey has consistently availed himself ofpportunities to enrich himself at the expense of the Kenyanaxpayer. His participation in official corruption ledirectly to the financial collapse of one parastatal, and heas also undermined stability and security in the Rift Valleyy instigating and planning inter-ethnic violence before,uring, and after the December 2007 elections. Postecommends that he be excluded for travel to the U.S. underection 212(f) of the INA and that no exception be granted.anneberger

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09nairobi1829, Visas Donkey, Corruption 212(f) Visa Denial