Kenya, China eyes mutual legal assistance deal to combat corruption

NAIROBI, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Kenya and China plan to sign a mutual legal assistance Agreement in order to combat corruption, the country's anti-graft watchdog said on Monday.

Twalib Mbarak, CEO of Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission told Xinhua in Nairobi that Kenya has already signed the Agreement and has submitted the deal to the Chinese government for them to sign.

"The mutual legal assistance Agreement will help to combat economic crimes by enabling cooperation between Kenya and Chinese investigative agencies to trace and recover proceeds of crime that are transferred between the two nations," said Mbarak.

Mbarak said that bilateral legal Agreements are required because with increasing globalization, corruption has now become a significant transnational crime that requires countries to conduct investigations in foreign countries.

He noted that increasing Sino-Kenya ties has provided greater opportunities for criminal networks to take advantage of ease of flow of funds between the two countries.