THE DEEP DIVE 17TH EDITION
We're looking into bribery in the DRC, offshore leaks and fact checks!
I very recently was reminded by a person on twitter about just how much information that had been hidden from the public across the globe is still sitting on Wikileaks. As I scrolled through it, rediscovering the leaked Kroll associates report that detailed how millions of shillings were spirited away to capitals in the West by some of Kenya's former (and current) ruling elite, the reminder showed me just how much we now understand about the role of the global financial infrastructure in hiding Africa's stolen wealth. There have now been over 6 major leaks showing this (take your pick from the Panama papers to the FinCen files). In mid-November, one more data leak has added former President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Joseph Kabila to the list of a global elite who are alleged to have taken millions from Congo's public coffers. Called "The Congo Hold-Up", the leak details how a Congolese bank, ran by Kabila's brother became the fulcrum for the movement of bribes paid to Kabila and others. In this edition of The Deep Dive we feature John Dell'Osso and Douglas Gillison from U.S. investigative firm The Sentry, who were part of the team of organizations looking into the leak. The break down part of this scheme, and why it should matter to you.
On December 6th, the latest leak published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the Pandora Papers was added to a public database. The Offshore leaks database now has information on over 800,000 offshore companies, foundations and trusts, including those linked to Kenya's first family, the Kenyattas. Read on for more on that.
One more thing...
This Thursday on our twitter space #JoinTheNewsroom, we're talking about youth and climate action. Come through and contribute to the discussion about climate change. The conversation starts at 7pm.
Dive in!
John-Allan
BRIBERY, BROTHERS AND A BANK
A look into "The BackChannel" investigative report
It is Africa's largest data leak to date, revolving around one of Africa's most resource-rich countries. Yes, there's more evidence that the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to be pillaged by a new generation of its ruling elite. The Congo Hold-up, published by a number of media organisations and non-profit research institutions lead by the PPLAAF and MediaPart, is based on over 3.5 million documents from BGFIBank showing how it was used to corrupt officials at the heart of DRC's leadership. We got John Dell'Osso and Douglas Gillison from U.S. investigative firm The Sentry to talk us through their story, "The back channel". It is an illuminating report that points directly at Joseph Kabila, his brother Francis Selmani and a host of interlocutors, for the creation of a literal backchannel for funds meant for the upgrading of the DRC's dilapidated road infrastructure. Here's that article.
ICIJ'S OFFSHORE LEAKS: NOW UPDATED WITH PANDORA PAPERS DATA
October the 3rd saw the ICIJ and its partners from across the globe publish the Pandora Papers, a data leak that would herald the worlds largest investigative collaboration to date. In it were details of the companies, trusts and foundations set up by members of the global elite in offshore and low tax jurisdictions. Africa Uncensored, in collaboration with Finance Uncovered published a documentary about secret companies linked to the Kenyatta's, Kenya's first family. In the month since, ICIJ has worked hard to make some of the data from this leak public. Now you can access the leak, and information from other past data leaks on this offshore leaks database.
JOIN THE NEWSROOM
Shaping Climate Change discourse through Communication & Media.
Communication and media plays a significant role in creating awareness and understanding of different facets in the community. It therefore has big role in how different stakeholders adapt and mitigate to Climate change. We invite you to join our newsroom this Thursday, 9th December, between 7pm and 8pm, as we delve into the conversation on Communication, Media and Climate Change linkages. What is the place of communication and media spaces in relation to climate change communication?
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
False alarm report by the Daily Nation misinterpreted a KPA memo regarding a freight station linked to Governor Joho
A Daily Nation article claimed that the Kenya Ports Authority(KPA) granted a firm connected to Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho "exclusive rights" to "take over" operations on cargo destined for the Nairobi Freights Terminal. This misleading information would be republished on other news websites, some denouncing KPA's alleged plot to make the Joho family company a monopoly.
Fact-checkers at Piga Firimbi debunked these claims here, finding that there is no exclusivity that was granted to the Autoports Freight Terminal which is partly owned by Governor Joho's brother Khamis Hamid Khamis. Neither was KPA's nomination of this firm a tender to be won as alleged by another media report. The memo only gave transporters the right to choose to either use the Autoports Freight Terminal or other terminals. The fact-check proves that the memo issued from KPA is not unique to the Joho-related facility, as it has previously been issued as standard procedure to nominate other privately owned freight stations. Also, there is currently no procurement law in Kenya barring family members of state or government officials from doing business with the government.
Editorial Director: John-Allan Namu
Assignment Editor: Sam Munia
Social Media Manager: Cecilia Ashioya
Contributors: Linda Ngari, Kevin Mbugua, Hannifa Kut, John Dell'Osso and Douglas Gillison
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