• The order was lifted after a satisfactory explanation was given on the source of the Sh13 million in Martin Elia Lomuro’s account.
• Lomuro is at liberty to operate his account at Cooperative Bank
Image: FILE
A judge has lifted a freeze order imposed on a bank account belonging to a South Sudanese minister.
The order was lifted after a satisfactory explanation was given on the source of the Sh13 million in Martin Elia Lomuro’s account.
The cash was not proceeds of crime, as initially thought, but was partly his salary and partly rental income from his property in South Sudan.
Lomuro is Minister of Cabinet Affairs in the South Sudanese government.
Anti-corruption court judge Cecilia Githua lifted the freeze order and directed that Lomuro is at liberty to operate his bank account at the Cooperative Bank of Kenya.
“The applicant (Assets Recovery Agency) is satisfied with the explanation provided by the respondent (Martin Elia Lomuro) on the source of funds. The applications dated June 2, 2021, and July 6, 2021, are compromised and the order issued on June 4, 2021 is rescinded,” the court ruled.
The freeze order arose out of an application by the Assets Recovery Agency, which claimed it suspected the minister was involved in money laundering.
ARA had moved to court to have the account frozen on suspicion of money laundering schemes across multiple jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom.
The agency had claimed that there were transactions of cash whose source could not be legitimately explained.
The agency asked for freeze orders, saying the minister might dispose of or transfer the cash and as a result there is a need for preservation.
However, the minister immediately filed a case under a certificate of urgency, explaining that he enjoys diplomatic immunity against civil or criminal jurisdiction.
He also said the money in question was not proceeds of crime but legitimate remittances from his bank accounts in Juba.
Part of the money constitutes what he gets as salary, allowances and emoluments as a minister and a member of Parliament in the National Legislative Assembly of South Sudan.
Another portion of the money is what he got as rental income from his properties in South Sudan.
Lomuro said the court order freezing his account had damaged his reputation because articles were published in the media portraying him as a thief and money launderer.
“The entire Republic of South Sudan has been tarnished and put in the dock that its most senior minister, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, who is well known and respected in the country, the East African community, the African Union and the whole international community, is a money launderer,” Lomuro said.
The freeze order inconvenienced him as he was unable to send money for medication to his wife Rejah, who has a heart condition and requires constant hospital visits.
He was also unable to send money to his family in Kenya for their upkeep and rent.
Edited by A.N