This archive report was first published on 20 November 2019.
On November 20, 2019, the US government issued a travel ban on former Attorney-General Amos Wako, citing his involvement in significant corruption.
However, Senator Wako has played down the ban, stating that it will not affect his work as a senator or commissioner.
“Hii ni kitu kidogo sana. It will not affect my work as a senator or as a commissioner. I hope I’ll get headlines tomorrow, with my picture of smiling attorney general emeritus,” Senator Wako said during a media briefing at Parliament on Wednesday.
Wako explained that the US ban has been in place since 2009 but has been resuscitated by persons with ‘interests’. He said he has only traveled to the US as a representative of the UN legal commission since 2009.
He denied claims by the US that he was involved in corruption, saying that the only allegation against him was lack of prosecution of corruption cases, a matter he says he addressed.
He challenged the US government to table evidence that he was involved in graft, pointing out that they are unable to do so in justification of the 2009 travel ban.
