- Wray was in a five-day visit where he met different agencies including DCI, NIS, EACC and the ODPP
- This is the second time an FBI boss is visiting. The first visit was by Robert Mueller in March 2009
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FBI director Christopher Wray has pledged to continue working with Kenya to ensure stability in the region.
He said with the ongoing threat from al Shabaab, there is need for continued cooperation and collaboration with security agencies.
Wray was in a five-day visit where he met different agencies including DCI, NIS, EACC and the ODPP.
This is the second time an FBI boss is visiting. The first visit was by Robert Mueller in March 2009.
Wray said FBI will continue to strengthen partnerships by providing tools and expertise to fight crime.
“We have been working with the DCI to bring together partners in and around this region to talk about threats we are all seeing and share lessons. We are also sharing new ways of collaboration to combat terrorism,” he said.
“Part of the reason for my visit, is to say thank you for the outstanding collaboration with the DCI and other agencies.”
Wray said there is need for joint training and operations to deal with emerging threats.
Below is an excerpt from his Q&A session with the media.
Why Kenya?
Wray: One big reason for my visit Kenya is to reinforce our relationships with our FBI partners, they are important given the threat by terror organisations such a al Shabaab.
Tackling terrorism requires teamwork and everyone to bring in their unique capabilities. One of the most effective tools to combat terrorism and other threats is through the Joint Terrorism Taskforce model that brings together different agencies.
Q: Kenya is listed 16th globally in organised crime and we have seen emerging crimes like gold scams which target foreigners. How are you partnering with Kenya to deal with this?
Wray: Organised crime is one of the threats that ignore borders, is very transnational in nature and takes different forms. Some of our partners like the Drug Enforcement Agency have been collaborating with agencies here in fight against drug trafficking. We (FBI) always try to follow the money to fight laundering but human trafficking is obviously one of the worst kinds of threats we tackle since it impacts children. We have been hosting trainings and sharing expertise to help tackle the threat and we are looking to do more.
Q: What is the idea behind Joint Terrorism Taskforce and how would you rate its success?
Wray: The model is based on the idea that expertise in one area is effective when we work together. The whole idea is to capitalise on the authorities, expertise, experience, intelligence and sources that each agency has. The best way to make it happen is to have agencies trust each other, collaborate and share information for action . We have been working with the Kenyan government, the DCI and other agencies to help the JTTF Kenya go off on the right path and we are encouraged by what we have seen and are looking forward to great things ahead.
There have been and continues to be numerous trainings sponsored by the US government through its embassy in Nairobi. Most of them have been sponsored through the Anti-Terrorism Assistance programme with hundreds of Kenyan detectives and prosecution officers benefitting. Other high-level trainings have been sponsored and undertaken at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, including a 12-week intensive counterterrorism training offered to 42 Kenyan investigators. As we speak, there is a team of more than a dozen Kenyan investigators awaiting admission at the FBI Academy for an undercover training later this month.
Q: How would you rate Kenya’s cooperation in the fight against crime?
Wray: Kenya's collaboration and cooperation with the FBI has been outstanding.
Q: What measures have you put in place to help Kenya investigate and successfully prosecute terrorism?
Wray: One of the measures is the launch and support of JTTF Kenya. We are also working to provide cutting-edge tools to investigators to identify threats and stay ahead of them. We are working with DCI to bring onboard other partners in the region to talk about threats and share lessons learnt and best practices and find new ways of combating threats.
Q: How is FBI collaborating with Kenya in fight against graft?
Wray: Investigating corruption has been at the heart of FBI mission for many decades and is among the biggest threats that we investigate because corruption strikes at the heart of the rule of law and public confidence in government institutions. It involves wealthy and powerful individuals and our biggest task is to demonstrate to citizens in any free society that they can have trust in the institutions by investigating those offences. We look forward to collaborating with DCI on that front.
Question: Lately we have had increased cases of money laundering and unsuspecting foreigners have lost millions to Kenyans. How can FBI help the DCI to contain this type of crime?
Wray; My understanding, which I believe is the correct position, is that businesspersons who are losing millions to fraudsters stationed in Kenya do not conduct a good background check of the people they are dealing with and are unfamiliar with the laws and regulations that guide the type of business they conduct. It is also a fact that the wash wash business (money laundering) has become one of the most prevalent transnational crimes, more often than not being orchestrated by non-Kenyans in the initial stages. Kenya, and most specifically its capital, Nairobi, comes into play due to its strategic placement as a key transit route for the precious stones from Congo and other African countries to the United Arab Emirates and the rest of the world.
About how the FBI can help the DCI to contain these crimes, know that we already have existing partnerships and many areas of cooperation, especially through Interpol operations and information sharing that enable us to pursue criminals anywhere across member states. We believe this type of fraud has more to it in the underworld of money laundering and that’s why our concerted efforts will eventually bring it to its knees.