RDC: Sud-Kivu – “Quote Part du Gouvernorat sur les Frais Remuneratoires percus per SAESSCAM” (19.05.2017)

EU’s new regulation plans to scrap imports of conflict minerals by 2021!

“The people back home wouldn’t buy a ring if they knew it cost someone else their hand” – Maddy Brown (Blood Diamond, 2006).

The European Union are acting out of care and thinking of transparency for the industrial imports and mineral exporters. This is happening just a little month after the United States opened up their legislation for importing more from conflict zones. While the European Union plans to close the gate from areas and from sources that export Conflict minerals.

So the EU laws are becoming more stricter than the United States, even if the law they have enacted in the European Parliament and Council of the European Union, will be effective from 2021. So it is 4 years until it has giant effect and gives time to refinery and importers to change behavior. Something that is necessary, as well as the public have to grow concern of the affects of buying conflict minerals. Even as the conflict minerals still come into the market of Europe and into the refineries so the consumers doesn’t know and cannot follow where their products who contain minerals comes from war-zones.

That the European Union takes this serious and acts upon this Nobel, and proves that they does not want to support militias and guerrillas that keeps control of mineral rich areas and their exports to supply weapons and continue warfare in for instance the African Great Lakes Region. Take a look!

Background of new rule:

“This Regulation, by controlling trade in minerals from conflict areas, is one of the ways of eliminating the financing of armed groups. The Union’s foreign and development policy action also contributes to fighting local corruption, to the strengthening of borders and to providing training for local populations and their representatives in order to help them highlight abuses” (EU, P: 8, 2017).

Conflict Minerals from Great Lakes Region:

“The Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy should regularly review their financial assistance to and political commitments with regard to conflict-affected and high-risk areas where tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold are mined, in particular in the African Great Lakes Region, in order to ensure policy coherence, and in order to incentivise and strengthen the respect for good governance, the rule of law and ethical mining” (EU, P: 16, 2017).

Trade of Minerals funds armed conflicts:

“Preventing the profits from the trade in minerals and metals being used to fund armed conflict through due diligence and transparency will promote good governance and sustainable economic development. Therefore, this Regulation incidentally covers areas falling within the Union policy in the field of development cooperation in addition to the predominant area covered which falls under the common commercial policy of the Union” (EU, P:17, 2017).

Important Article:

“Article 3: Compliance of Union importers with supply chain due diligence obligations

1. Union importers of minerals or metals shall comply with the supply chain due diligence obligations set out in this Regulation and shall keep documentation demonstrating their respective compliance with those obligations, including the results of the independent third-party audits” (EU, P: 23, 2017).

Date of Application:

“Articles 1(5), 3(1), 3(2), Articles 4 to 7, Articles 8(6), 8(7), 10(3), 11(1), 11(2), 11(3), 11(4), Articles 12 and 13, Article 16(3), and Article 17 shall apply from 1 January 2021” (EU, P: 51, 2017).

What the statements on the law:

“The Commission will consider making additional legislative proposals targeted at EU companies with products containing tin, tantalum, and tungsten and gold in their supply chain should it conclude that the aggregate efforts of the EU market on the responsible global supply chain of minerals are insufficient to leverage responsible supply behaviour in producer countries, or should it assess that the buy-in of downstream operators that have in place supply chain due diligence systems in line with the OECD guidance is insufficient” (…) “In the exercise of its empowerment to adopt delegated acts pursuant to Article 1(5), the Commission will take due account of the objectives of this Regulation, notably as set out in recitals (1), (7), (10) and (17). In doing so, the Commission will, in particular, consider the specific risks associated with the operation of upstream gold supply chains in conflict affected and high-risk areas and taking into account the position of Union micro and small enterprises importing gold in the EU” (…) “In response to the request of the European Parliament for specific guidelines, the Commission is willing to develop performance indicators specific to the responsible sourcing of conflict minerals. By means of such guidelines, relevant companies with more than 500 employees that are required to disclose non-financial information in conformity with Directive 2014/95/EU would be encouraged to disclose specific information in relation to products containing tin, tantalum, tungsten or gold” (EU, P: 57-58, 2017).

The European Union is doing something positive with this. That they show effort and care for the imports and what affects the export has locally, so if the minerals export is shady, the export will cease. So if the due diligence regulation works and the industry complies, the effect can be enormous. The consumer will also know that there are not supporting by third party purchase to pay for ammunition rebels, warlords or guerrillas in far away lands. This should all be seen as step of making a better world and honorable society. Where the money is where the mouth is! Peace.

Reference:

Council of the European Union – ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council setting up a Union system for supply chain due diligence self-certification of responsible importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating in conflict-affected and high-risk areas – Outcome of the European Parliament’s first reading (Strasbourg, 13 to 16 March 2017) – (20.03.2017).

Reports of Illicit Financial Funds from the East African States in the years of 2004 – 2013!

After reading a Forbes article on Illicit Financial Funds leaving Ethiopia, as they question the need for and the use of donor aid to Ethiopia. I had to read the reports that it partly was based and make my own assumptions. The difference is that I want to focus on the East African Nations and their Illicit Financial Funds that leaves the States. So that the values and the amounts show’s lack of governance and regulation of finance gives way for the African governments and corporations to get away with transferring funds without legal bounds. This is a way of misusing funds and also money laundering through lacking revenue service and authorities to keep up the upkeep of the states. Take a look!

“IFFs are illegal movements of money or capital from one country to another. GFI classifies such flows as illicit if the funds crossing borders are illegally earned, transferred, and/or utilized. If the flow breaks a law at any point, it is illicit” (GFI, 2015).

“African governments have a political interest in IFFs because these flows impact their national development aspirations and encroach on state structures. They therefore have law enforcement and regulatory agencies whose duties include preventing IFFs. Among these are the police, financial intelligence units and anti-corruption agencies. Governments also have customs and revenue services and other agencies whose purposes are thwarted or hindered by IFFs” (IFF, P: 35, 2016).

“The widespread occurrence of IFFs in Africa also points to a governance problem in the sense of weak institutions and inadequate regulatory environments. IFFs accordingly contribute to undermining state capacity. To achieve their purposes, the people and corporations behind IFFs often compromise state officials and institutions. Left unchecked, these activities lead to entrenched impunity and the institutionalization of corruption” (IFF, P: 51, 2016)

“Most African countries do not have enough highly trained lawyers, accountants and tax experts to carry out the oversight functions to prevent or punish perpetrators of illicit financial outflows. The few that exist are often overworked and unable to prepare sufficiently to take on top-class representing large corporations” (IFF, P: 72, 2016).

Illicit Financial Funds ranking in the years of 2004 – 2013:

Nation	IFFs	Ranking
Burundi	$87m	124
Congo (DRC)	$225m	107
Djibouti	$375m	96
Ethiopia	$2,583m	46
Eritrea	$38m	133
Kenya	$83m	125
Rwanda	$359m	97
Somalia	$0m	147
Sudan	$1,311m	67
Tanzania	$482m	90
Uganda	$715m	78

*(in millions of U.S. dollars, nominal)

* Global Financial Integrity December Report 2015

Total IFFs in the years of 2004 – 2013 (GER+HMN)

Nation	Total IFFs
Burundi	$866m
Congo (DRC)	$2,254m
Djibouti	$3,745m
Ethiopia	$25,835m
Eritrea	$115m
Kenya	$829m
Rwanda	$3,589m
Somalia	$0m
Sudan	$13,115m
Tanzania	$4,820m
Uganda	$7,149m

*(in millions of U.S. dollars, nominal)

* Global Financial Integrity December Report 2015

* “Trade misinvoicing (GER) dominates measurable illicit outflows, averaging 83.4 percent of total illicit outflows during the years 2004 to 2013. However, there has been a noticeable growth in the hot money narrow (HMN) estimate of balance of payment leakages over those years as well. Though initially only accounting for 6.9 percent of illicit outflows in 2004, HMN rose to 19.4 percent of illicit flows by 2013” (GFI, P: 10, 2015).

If you look at the charts there are some monies that is missing and gone away on all sorts of schemes and tax exemptions, all sort of added invoicing or other types of financial instruments to make sure the monies doesn’t end where they are supposed to be. The East African states have misused giant amount of funds.

Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda are topping the list. What is weird for me and the report it is not specifying the Sudan as the Khartoum republic or putting South Sudan alone! So the report and the values put on South Sudan, which was independent in 2011, there do not know what of part of Sudan who has illicit funds. Still, the values and the amount of million dollars Illicit Financial Funds (IFFs) from Ethiopia for instance. You can wonder how much of the government budget that is eaten by this sort of financial mismanagement and misuse of public funds. The reserves and state coffers have to be hit when it is these amounts of dollars that are lost. Uganda have also gotten rid of giant amount of funds, these is 10 higher than the revelation during the Oil Probe with the 2.4 Trillion shillings, which is about $640-700m dollars. That we’re oil revenue that has not been remitted to the state, just these values is ten-times of what was revealed in the Ugandan courts. So there is other revenue that the State House, Bank of Uganda and Uganda Revenue Authority not have complied to or have registered as there is a loss of $7,149 million dollars.

These is just two financial instruments as the HMN and the GER that is explained under the table, the other ways of misusing funds, I haven’t even covered. This is just how much that is miss-invoicing and Hot Money Narrow, the others can be shown at another time. The numbers shown here alone show the extent of misuse of funds in a decade. That is the public loss and the state coffers that been looted by the regime and their lack of will of following and regulating the financial markets. Therefore, the state and institutions does not have the will or capacity to follow the money. This shouldn’t be evident, but it is and not a good look. Peace.

Reference:

Illicit Financial Flows iff – ‘Report of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa’

Global Financial Integrity – ‘Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2004-2013’ (December 2015)

Mining Company Funds Armed Men in Eastern Congo Gold Rush While State Loses Tax Windfall (05.07.2016)

Chinese-owned mining company exporting to Dubai gave armed groups AK-47s for access to gold. 

LONDON, United Kingdom, July 5, 2016 –  Armed groups in Shabunda territory, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, received gifts of arms and cash from a Chinese mining company and made up to $25,000 per month extorted from local miners during a recent two-year gold boom. In just one year, up to $17 million of gold produced by Kun Hou Mining, the Chinese-owned company, went missing and was likely smuggled out of Congo into international supply chains, Global Witness reveals today(globalwitness.org/river-of-gold-drc).

At the same time, the Congolese state lost out on tax revenues on up to $38 million of artisanal gold produced per year during the gold rush, due to smuggling and misconduct by provincial authorities. The gold rush focused on the Ulindi River reached its peak in 2014 and 2015 and continues to this day. Evidence gathered by Global Witness also shows a provincial authority colluded with armed groups in illegal taxation of miners while another altered official export documents so gold looked as though it was coming from legally-operating mines.

Global Witness’ investigation reveals the extent of the problems in eastern Congo’s artisanal gold sector. Eastern Congo has seen an uptick in gold production in recent years, the revenues from which could have been used to address the region’s desperate poverty but have instead often funded armed groups and corrupt officials. Most of eastern Congo’s artisanal miners – around 80% – work in the gold sector. Recent international reforms have aimed to stop Congo’s mineral wealth funding armed groups. Global Witness warns today that the Congolese government needs to hold companies and government officials involved in such abuses to account in order for these reforms to work.

Armed groups, known as Raia Mutomboki, received at least two AK-47 assault rifles and $4,000 in cash from Kun Hou Mining, which operates mechanised gold dredging machines along the Ulindi River in Shabunda territory, South Kivu province of eastern Congo. In addition, the armed men taxed artisanal miners operating locally-made dredgers extracting gold along the river. Local authorities also collaborated with the Raia Mutomboki, through a tax sharing deal. The taxes collected by authorities appear to have disappeared, depriving Congo of much needed revenue which could be used for health and education.

“There were over 500 cases of malnutrition reported in Shabunda town in 2014 and yet the significant revenues generated by this gold boom benefitted armed men and predatory companies instead of the Congolese people” said Sophia Pickles, Senior Campaigner at Global Witness. “The Congolese government must enforce its own laws to ensure that companies in its gold sector do not produce or trade gold that has funded armed groups. Any company breaking these laws must be held accountable for their actions. Provincial mining authorities that fail to properly govern the minerals sector must also be held liable.”

Global Witness’ research shows that almost half a million dollars’ worth of Kun Hou’s gold was exported to a Dubai company through official channels. The rest of the company’s estimated $17 million of gold production is likely to have been smuggled out of the country.

There were over 500 cases of malnutrition reported in Shabunda town in 2014

Global Witness has also found evidence that mining officials in the provincial capital, Bukavu, deliberately falsified documentation to obscure links to Shabunda. Officials changed the gold’s origin on official export documents to show instead it came from the handful of legally-operating artisanal mines in South Kivu. This pattern has been repeated with other mines in the province. As a result, it is much more difficult for international buyers to be sure that gold has not funded armed groups.

“Provincial authorities overseeing Shabunda’s boom have, by their actions over the past two years, directly undermined international and the national government’s efforts to reform eastern Congo’s artisanal gold trade,” said Pickles. “States have a responsibility to ensure that companies do no harm, including checking supply chains for links to conflict and human rights abuses – Congo and the United Arab Emirates have dramatically failed in this respect.”

Global Witness’s report River of Gold also shows that:

·         South Kivu’s provincial government and mining authorities continued to support Kun Hou Mining despite repeated legal violations by the firm and repeated requests from Congo’s national government in Kinshasa to shut down its operations.

·         Mining officials in Shabunda town working for SAESSCAM, a governmental body mandated to support artisanal miners, ran an illegal taxation racket in areas where the local dredgers operated, including in collaboration with Raia Mutumboki armed groups.

·         Gold from Shabunda’s boom was sold on to a gold trading house in Bukavu that then sold it to their sister company, Alfa Gold Corp DMCC, in Dubai. Neither firm carried out supply chain due diligence to international standards, which would have revealed that the gold had been obtained in direct contravention of Congolese law and UAE Guidelines. Alfa Gold Corp DMCC has a wholly owned UK subsidiary registered in London’s Hatton Garden jewellery area. Alfa Gold in Dubai and London did not respond to request for comment.

·         Documents show that a French citizen Frank Menard, who worked for Kun Hou Mining, is deeply implicated in the company’s wrongdoing. Raia Mutomboki armed groups wrote to Menard in February 2015 to thank him for the two AK-47 assault rifles and $4,000. Menard also signed an official document confirming the sale of Kun Hou’s gold to Alfa Gold’s Congolese office. Global Witness’ attempts to contact Franck Menard were unsuccessful.

In recent years there have been significant international efforts to tackle the link between violent conflict, human rights abuses and the minerals trade in Congo and elsewhere including international supply chain guidance set out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) five years ago, which has been a legal requirement in Congo since 2012. The US also passed a law and most recently industry supply chain guidelines based on the OECD standard were agreed in China. The Chinese guidelines set a precedent for Chinese companies to recognise and reduce supply chain risks and if adhered to should allow companies sourcing minerals from high-risk areas to do so responsibly.

Kun Hu Mining refused to comment in response to three requests from Global Witness. SAESSCAM have strongly denied that its agents collaborated with armed groups.

Press Release: EU aid for African Great Lakes region getting through, but may be to expensive say auditor (04.07.2016)

RDC: Communautes du Territoire de Walikale – Nord-Kivu (03.06.2016)

#PanamaPapers: A little reflection on the reason why these operation exisist and thrieving on the Fortunate

For those who have been surprised by the recent allegation and findings in the #Panama Papers that incites lots of politicians, the general elites and businessmen connected close to the governments. The money always talks, the money always moves and by any means possible.

For the wealthy and close connected they have the ability to forge networks and find businesses that earns coins on helping to move that money. But that is not for the ordinary people, as we pay a fortune to use RIA or Western Union to move between usually loved ones. But the Panama Papers are for whole other ordeal.

This here is for Tax Aviation’s and getting rid of extra burdens on the solid amount money they have gained. The persons and companies are set-up Shell-Companies to stack up money in British Virgin Island (BVI), Panama or Luxemburg. As this places doesn’t have that many inhabitance or sheep to earn money on, they earn tiny percentage on being “big-banks” for all kind of operations, while securing that the companies and persons involved can keep it discreet and silence. Until cover-ups like the recent ones shows the true color of the amount of money, that are dished away. The money that are stashed-away is millions upon millions of American Dollars; dipped away in a treasury chests that most economies would dream of having in circulation!

That should not be surprising as all of well-known government leaders are setting up and making it possible to have sophisticated economic systems that cross-borders for the benefit of trade; while these are used to ship the money from the places that have initially no taxes and programs that made up to build societies. This is also the places where they can have it without any concern, except some extra sunshine and a family resort at the beach, though I would not consider that in Luxemburg, unless suits and gas-stations are your thing.

The business-men and government officials, even relatives usually walks around with that without problems for decades as the banks, and the legal advocates set-up this fixed businesses to secure the fueling of their money. The worst thing is the loopholes and the ways that this decisive methods to undermine the local public to create and secure more funds for already wealthy clients. Where the bank as HSBC and lawyers of Mossack Fonseca divided fees to pocket the money that the client needed to send away from the shores and country-sides; where the money was raised and earned. While getting away from local agony of having fortunes and paying taxes on the high-incomes earned to the local communities.

If you we’re shocked of the values and the persons that was involved in the scandal of late, I wasn’t as the government officials, presidents sons and daughters; kin and other close connections have always gained extra through the cronyism or nepotism have been a thing since the Roman Empire, and does not stop any time soon. That the President Museveni of Uganda owns businesses and would have dashed a fortune for his grandchildren in an tax-haven through multiplied shell-companies. The same would not also be surprising on the Kenyan President Kenyatta who recently brought Sameer Diary and Livestock Limited who sells ‘Fresh Diary’ in Uganda through his company Brookeside. Surely his kins and family have some money abroad to secure in dire times might come. The same is certainly with President Kagame, who even been seen during the scandal that RPF-Elite men have been insiders in the scandal, as President Kagame have control and ease over it; surely he would skim over the top and gain some extra funds as the Executive. Similar is it in Democratic Republic of Congo where President Kabila sister is central profile in the scandal and shows how the monies and funds appear in tax-havens as she owns businesses and also the centralized economy around nepotistic and cronyism. Something that should not  be shocking for anyone.

What this scandal shows is the amounts and estimates, this is through to major companies who serves this clients that are close by this totalitarian and big-men leaders who have close connected with central industries as they have to be granted and get contracts with government to drill oil, mining or even gain markets in the countries. With that power comes also embezzlement, kick-backs and percentage of the top that get skimmed through the advanced economic products that the blue-collar lawyers and bankers offers; they do that legally, but in a moral grey area as this thieving of government controlled funds in the name of the beneficiary or the shell-company in discreet secrecy. It’s not only dictators and their wives who are into it, I am sure if it wasn’t for the failed ‘Wonga Coup’ Mark Thatcher would still be up to game as the son-fallen from grace and proud family tradition; as even David Cameroon have been put into the mix. There is no shortfall when it comes to greed, and corporate greed never stops.

As the world leaders tries the best to hide their businesses and ownership through shell-companies and strawmen, or getting a cousin to run the business kind of like what Trump does to his son, just a little more subtle.

The governments are taking the sides of happy uncles as they all tries to open trades with tax-havens to keep businesses in their countries. The Companies who in many countries are seen as “Legal Person” can own land, own other businesses and be sued. Certainly with that power as stakeholders and shareholders does not care about other things than the bottom-line, they want to sell or sell enough services so that their earning a profit, by any means. That is why big businesses have been taken for tax-evasion in the UK this was Amazon and other online-retailers as they we’re officially legal unit in a tax-haven and not in the United Kingdom, though the products bought on Amazon was sent from a warehouse in UK, and sent to UK houses. The transaction between costumer who got the book from Amazon payed to a British account, but before the cash kissed the taxation to the Government of UK, it was sent to multiply Amazon shell-companies before ending at a Tax-haven. So that the United Kingdom get only pennies in tax compared to the Pound Sterling the UK state was supposed to earn from the Amazon LLC. That is just an example, but still important as a precise maneuvers the companies and international companies do, so they does not pay full-taxes or truthfully through sophisticated economic programs and revisions get the monies through foreign banks and tax-havens with help of legal teams in companies similar to Mossack Fonseca.

How to set up shop:

The LLC and Shell Companies will be used in market strategies as ghost straw-men for the owners sending monies through networks of intricate syndicates and money-laundering operations; That make Uncle Scrooge or Scrooge McDuck wishing he was a real person and not a cartoon character made up by Carl Barks in 1952; instead he is owning a Oil Company drilling oil in either Kazakhstan, Nigeria or North Dakota. Where he got the proceedings through UBS AG or HBSC; where the profit gets through manufactured holding companies and sent to BVI or Guernsey; where the McDuck Oil Company has headquarter, by official paperwork. That paperwork is written and made by lawful actions through Mossack Fonseca; while most of the Blue-Collar men are working in the unofficial Headquarters in the heart in the City of London or New York. But their taxing is little or near none there, because of McDonald Oil is fixed in Guernsey; Where they only have a Post-Box at the island; which by my reckoning would forward the mail to London or New York as the employees would actually be there.

This is a way of getting the bottom-line and the more of the ends directly to the stakeholders and owners of these companies tries to advance with this opportunities, that we the ordinary citizen, commoner, person or fellow human being would not be offered, since we don’t have the money to fix this or hire these men to forward our money, as we need the cash we have to get a home rent or buy, get food on the plate, pay electricity, airtime, taxes and then trying to get a chocolate bar once in a while. There is where we are. The once who was surprised about these papers have had too much faith in their rich, the elites and the once who has fortunes. They do not want to share that fortune that they have earned on our governments and our consumption; while trying to avoid giving something back to society, and giving the government more funds to develop the society the rich are doing business in. Peace.

#PanamaPapers/#SwissLeaks – Lot’s of Money to the Swiss Accounts from the East African countries.

This here is prove the numbers, this here does not prove who have the major accounts; on the surface as he page shows numbers, but not the accounts or who’s name that is behind the coded accounts from the HSBC Swiss Bank leak. This here proves that standards and values of how much money that leaves the countries and get into secret accounts in Switzerland.

This proves the values and the estimated amount of money in the accounts. In this here that I found on the page is very little direct as I don’t have somebody on the insides, that gives the documents. Therefore here is the raw-numbers and estimated that have been sent from East Africa. In this article I just have some persons who are connected, but not many of the holders of the accounts from the leak.

Burundi:

“30 client accounts opened between 1988 and 2006 and linked to 32 bank accounts. 14 clients are associated with Burundi. 21% have a Burundian passport or nationality. The total estimated values in the accounts are $30.2M.   The maximum amount of money associated with a client connected to Burundi was $8.3M” (ICIJ.com, 2016).

Burundi Country Profile – Aziza Kulsum Gulamali:

“Listed as living in Belgium, Kulsum was linked to three HSBC numbered client accounts opened between 1990 and 1997. One account –15208BAMA– linked to two bank accounts that together held as much as $3.26 million in 2006/2007, was later blocked for unspecified compliance reasons. She showed up as a joint account holder of that numbered client account. The other two accounts were closed in 1995 and 2000” (ICIJ.com, 2016).

Democratic Republic of Congo:

“182 clients are associated with DR Congo. 2% have a Congolese (Kinshasa) passport or nationality. 245 client accounts opened between 1984 and 2006 and linked to 299 bank accounts. The total estimated values in the accounts are $179.8M. The maximum amount of money associated with a client connected to DR Congo was $60.3M” (ICIJ.com, 2016).

DRC Country Profile – Jaynet Désirée Kabila Kyungu:

“Jaynet Désirée Kabila Kyungu is the twin sister of Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Famed for secrecy and meticulousness, she was elected to parliament in November 2011 and took office in February 2012. Kabila is the president of the Laurent Desire Kabila Foundation, named after her father, and owner of Digital Congo, a television, Internet and radio conglomerate. In 2015, Jeune Afrique reported that Kabila had become “the most influential person in the president’s entourage.” (…)”Keratsu Holding Limited was incorporated in Niue on June 19, 2001, a few months after Kabila’s brother became president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Jaynet Désirée Kabila Kyungu appeared as co-director with Congolese businessman Kalume Nyembwe Feruzi. The DRC Company Keratsu Holding Ltd has owned stakes in one of the DRC’s major mobile phone operators” (Eagle.co.ug, 2016).

Ethiopia:

“29 clients are associated with Ethiopia. 24% have a Ethiopian passport or nationality. 31 client accounts opened between 1986 and 2004 and linked to 55 bank accounts. The total estimated values in the accounts are $10M. The maximum amount of money associated with a client connected to Ethiopia was $2M” (ICIJ.com, 2016).

Eritrea:

“32 clients are associated with Eritrea. 28% have a Eritrean passport or nationality. 24 client accounts opened between 1981 and 2006 and linked to 39 bank accounts. The total estimated values in the accounts are $699.6M. The maximum amount of money associated with a client connected to Eritrea was $695.2M” (ICIJ.com, 2016).

Kenya:

“The county or people of Kenyan nationality have 1,093 bank accounts, which with 463 client accounts opened between 1975 and 2006 and linked to 1,093 bank accounts. 742 clients are associated with Kenya. 32% have a Kenyan passport or nationality. The total estimated values in the accounts are $559.8M. The maximum amount of money associated with a client connected to Kenya was $35.8M” (ICIJ.com, 2016).

Kenyan Country Profile – Johnson Nduya Muthama:

“HSBC files recorded Muthama’s name in connection with the client account “ROCKLAND96”, which was set up in 1996 and closed in 2000. Muthama was also linked to the numbered client account “20443NM” over the same period. Bank files listed eight of his relatives – named Nduya Muthama – also linked to the numbered account. The leaked files do not specify the exact role that he had in relation to the accounts” (ICIJ.com, 2016).

Kenyan Country Profile No.2 – Lady Justice Rawal:

“She and her husband were listed as directors at Forrell Real Estate Inc from 2001 to 2007 and Rocklane Properties Ltd from 2001 to 2003, which were notably active after her appointment to the Judiciary in 2000. She was also a director and shareholder at Ubique Services Ltd in 1994 and shareholder at Highworth Management Services in 1995. All four firms were registered in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a notorious tax haven” (…)”The Kenyan Constitution makes it illegal for judges, being state officers, to open and operate offshore bank accounts. Chapter Six, Article 76 (2) (a) states: “A State officer shall not maintain a bank account outside Kenya except in accordance with an Act of Parliament” (Kubania, 2016).

Rwanda Country Profile – Emmanuel Ndahiro:

“”Emmanuel Ndahiro became a director of British Virgin Islands company Debden Investments Limited in September 1998, the same year in which Ndahiro regularly appeared in international news as a spokesman of the Rwandan army. Debden reportedly owned a jet aircraft. At the time of his appointment, Ndahiro’s listed address was a building in a commercial section of a West London neighborhood. Hatari Sekoko, a former soldier with the Rwandan Patriotic Front and now a major business executive, was the company’s owner. The company was deactivated in 2010.” (ICIJ.com, 2016)

Somalia:

“7 clients are associated with Somalia. 29% have a Somali passport or nationality. 10 client accounts opened between 1990 and 2003 and linked to 22 bank accounts. The total estimated values in the accounts are $15.5M. The maximum amount of money associated with a client connected to Somalia was $12.2M” (ICIJ.com, 2016).

Tanzania:

“99 clients are associated with Tanzania. 20% have a Tanzanian passport or nationality. 91 client accounts opened between 1982 and 2006 and linked to 286 bank accounts. The total estimated values in the accounts are $114M. The maximum amount of money associated with a client connected to Tanzania was $20.8M” (ICIJ.com, 2016).

Uganda:

“83 client accounts opened between 1972 and 2006 and linked to 212 bank accounts. There is now as the leak where happening 57 clients with Ugandan Passports or Nationality.  The total estimate to be in value in the accounts is $89,3M.  The maximum amount of money associated with a client connected to Uganda was $8.8M” (ICIJ.com, 2016).

Afterthought:

The numbers speak for themselves and the amount of money is staggering, this is most likely through one of giant Swiss Banks of the HSBC where the money have gone through and filtered in secret accounts. This here proves the levels of accountability and how the rich and elites filters away money from the country where they are earning money to have less tax or not being taxed in the under the regime some of them works for or is close by.

There lacking of accountability and senseless stealing of funds in between the different countries, as the scandals are rocking often. As state house and other governmental institutions missing funds before the fiscal years over, or lacking the economy to pay the salaries to their civil servants. Secondly is the free-based economy that gives edges and corporate greed who can strive without beneficial taxation and gives way for the movement of funds from the country the business is in; into a country that are a Tax-Paradise where the ones with the account can be secret and not pay what they are expected. If not it can be away of embezzling the funds or white-wash the funds as shell-companies are holders for the monies, while the owners tries to find a great use for the funds. Peace.

Reference:

Eagle.co.ug – ‘Sons, daughters and business associates to African presidents’ top Panama leaks’ (04.04.2016) link: http://eagle.co.ug/2016/04/04/sons-daughters-business-associates-african-presidents-top-panama-leaks.html

Kubania, Jacqueline – ‘Deputy CJ Rawal among high-profile Kenyans with firms in tax havens’ (04.04.2016) link: http://mobile.nation.co.ke/news/Rawal-among-high-profile-Kenyans-with-firms-in-tax-havens/-/1950946/3144804/-/format/xhtml/-/ioefn5z/-/index.html