Ex-Kenyan minister remanded to prison in Uganda

Kenya’s former Assistant minister for Internal Security, Mr Stephen Kipkiyeny Tarus, faces up to three years in jail or a fine of USD10,000, should he be found guilty of falsifying documents in an alleged gold deal.
Mr Tarus, who was charged on Wednesday, January 10, at the Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala presided over by Justice Esther Asiimwe, was remanded to Luzira Maximum Security Prison until January 18.

Court documents indicate that Mr Tarus was caught with falsified Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) documents, contrary to Section 203 (b) of the East African Community Customs Management Act, 2004 (as amended).
Multiple sources from the taxman that this newspaper spoke to said it is believed Mr Tarus was involved in a gold scam ring.
It is alleged that he forged a receipt of USD30,000 bearing the logos of the revenue body and tendered it to an unsuspecting Indian businessman from Mumbai who had jetted into the country towards the end of December.

The Indian, who we can only identify as Pravine, was in Kampala to secure space for a showroom for medical equipment. He is also said to have secured similar space in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, where he wants to replicate investments in Ghana, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
When Pravine arrived in Kampala, he booked into a top hotel, from where the politician reportedly contacted him and informed him that there were 13 kilograms of gold at URA whose demurrage needed to be cleared for it to be released. He was told that the consignment had been at the tax agency for four years.

The Indian, whose close Ugandan confidants were out of town for the Christmas holiday, is said to have expressly released the money and was given the URA fake receipt.
After the transaction, the politician and his team disappeared, prompting Pravine to engage URA officials, who red-lighted the receipt.
URA’s investigation team then tracked the politician and arrested him last week.

The Indian is said to have flown back home and entrusted the case with a close Kenyan businessman who is heavily invested in petroleum in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
URA’s spokesperson Ibrahim Bossa said he would furnish us with finer details on how Mr Tarus was arrested once he gathers them.

The 57-year-old served as assistant minister during the late President Mwai Kibaki’s era and as High Commissioner to Australia between 2009 and 2012. He had also served as the Member of Parliament for Emgwen Constituency between 2003 and 2007.
He is expected back in court to charges of gold smuggling, scamming and forgery of URA’s documents including a receipt claiming to have paid for the movement of the gold in Kampala.

Reports by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime indicate that Uganda is a regional hub for illicit gold smuggled from neighboring countries primarily from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan and smaller flows from Kenya.

“Once the smuggled gold arrives in Uganda, dealers claim it is of Ugandan origin, supported by fraudulent documentation which the authorities find difficult to disprove,” the report says.

It adds that Uganda provides an attractive market for illicit gold owing to the ease at which it can be moved and traded courtesy of the insecurity in DRC and South Sudan.
From Uganda, the gold finds its way into international markets with a report by the United Nations Group of experts in 2017 identifying the country as a major transit route for the illicit gold to the United Arab Emirates.