Africa-Press – Kenya. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has urged the international community to deepen cooperation to help trace and recover assets stolen from Kenya and hidden abroad.
EACC CEO Abdi Mohamud made the appeal in Doha, Qatar, during a high-level panel at the 11th Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention Against Corruption.
Mohamud said cross-border collaboration remains fundamental to successful asset recovery cases, since many illicit proceeds are transferred to foreign jurisdictions.
To make asset recovery more effective, Mohamud urged governments to strengthen Central Authorities responsible for handling complex international requests. He called for increased resourcing, training and systemic reforms to improve capacity.
He also proposed the establishment and strengthening of centralised beneficial ownership registries with verified, interoperable and internationally connected systems. Mohamud said such registries are necessary to expose hidden assets and speed up the tracing and repatriation of illicit financial flows.
He acknowledged support received through partnerships with global institutions, including the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre and the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery.
Mohamud said such cooperation had enabled the recovery of significant assets in cases concluded by the Commission. The EACC’s participation in the Doha conference signals its commitment to advancing global anti-corruption frameworks and sharing best practices to enhance asset recovery both locally and across borders.
This comes a few weeks after the EACC released its report highlighting the 2024/25 financial year, which showed that the Commission recovered assets worth Sh3.4 billion.
This record marked one of its strongest years yet in reclaiming public wealth lost through corruption. EACC also traced 27 assets valued at Sh22.9 billion, preserved assets worth Sh2.685 billion, and filed 79 recovery suits targeting Sh4.8 billion in illicit acquisitions.
During the release of the report, Mohamud said the year under review reflected “resilience, strategic growth and focused execution,” noting that the institution had achieved its highest number of recovery suits in five years.
“If I had to summarise the last twelve months, it would be a year characterised by both resilience, strategic growth and focused execution,” Mohamud said during the launch of the Commission’s annual report on December 8.
“Looking back today, I am proud of the successes we have realised. The past year has not only tested our resolve, but also proven our impact.”
According to the Commission, the Sh3.4 billion recovered represents an improvement from Sh2.9 billion the previous year, underscoring heightened efficiency in asset tracing and enforcement.
