8th June 2011
MP Harun Mwau wants to know whether the Kenya government will intervene in his bid to reverse the recent designation by the US as a drug trafficker
A Kenyan assistant minister recently designated by the US as an international drug trafficker now wants to know whether the Kenya government will intervene in his bid to reverse the designation.
Harun Mwau, who is a member of parliament, was last week listed by US President Barack Obama as a drug lord under the US Kingpin Act.
On Wednesday, the MP sought a ministerial statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking what the Government of Kenya can do to prevent the US Senate and House of Representatives from acting on what he described as erroneous information that had been forwarded to them.
Mr Mwau wants the minister for Foreign Affairs to clarify the circumstances that led the US President to designate him as a major drug trafficker and whether the action was fair and in line with the principle of respect for fundamental human rights and justice.
Noting that he was not consulted before the US took the action, Mr Mwau further wants to know whether any evidence was shared with Kenya’s President Mwau Kibaki and whether he was consulted and what the Kenya government can do to assist him from being punished by a foreign land.
“Can the minister table evidence held against me by any person or authority or that would link me to any drug trafficking?” the member asked.
Foreign law
Mr Mwau and a Kenyan businesswoman Naima Mohammed Nyakiniywa appeared in the US list of top seven drug traffickers around the world with President Obama signing an executive order freezing all assets of the MP for his alleged involvement in drug trafficking.
The order was issued under the US Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act or the Kingpin Act and extended to the Kenyan businesswoman, who appeared before a Tanzanian court on drug trafficking charges last week.
