Africa needs more than visa bans

Mike Sonko has fallen foul of the America’s strict visa rules. Due to corruption, the former Nairobi governor has been declared persona non grata by the US in a ban that extends to his immediate family members. But what the US, UK and other Western countries don’t know is that there are many ‘Sonkos’ where he came from. They should pursue them all swiftly and relentlessly for the sake of Africa. 

Apart from visa bans, African leaders should also be discouraged from visiting hospitals and educating their children abroad. The West cannot choose which corruption to fight. An African leader no longer needs to carry suitcases of money abroad. He can still be corrupt by using the national Budget to obtain the best for himself and his family abroad by paying for expensive healthcare and education. 

African leaders known for running down hospitals and destroying education in their countries are let to benefit from Western countries eager to net higher fee-paying foreign students and medical tourists to supplement their institutions’ funds. As a deterrent to graft, the West should scrutinise the source of medicare and education fees paid by African leaders as a priority. Most African leaders and their families have obscene wealth and live equally decadent lives abroad with some even ruling their countries from the comfort of their villas in the West. 

A short, sharp shock is what visa bans offer. They do not go deep enough to rattle corrupt African leaders, who promptly find other ingenious ways to hide embezzled funds and other cities in which to spend their ill-gotten money. When the West issue a visa ban, all the corrupt do is look East to more favourable cities with less scrutiny in their financial systems.

Runaway graft

Dubai is fast becoming the playground for corrupt individuals from Africa. Then-Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe set the trend when he replaced London and New York with Singapore and Dubai following his acrimonious relationship with the West. The sanctions and visa bans did not affect him and his family. 

Other African leaders have followed suit. Recently, as Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was in London for treatment, his wife was filmed hosting a birthday party at what looked like an expensive location in Dubai. Meanwhile, poverty and insecurity are on the rise in their country and largely contribute to runaway graft. The Transparency International (TI) corruption index for 2021 showed Nigeria had dropped five places in its rankings.

Very few African countries have fared better on the TI index. The most corrupt countries are in Africa with South Sudan and Somalia tops (forgive the sarcasm). Employing visa bans on corrupt African leaders is akin to stopping a leak from a burst water mains with a blade of grass. 

What is required are concerted efforts from the international community to save Africa from corruption. The only way to reduce and, hopefully, stop graft in Africa would be through multi-lateral agreements than decisions taken by single countries. It should be the responsibility of the international community, and not just a few Western countries, to stem illicit financial flows, mainly of embezzled money, from Africa. Global anti-money laundering policies do not seem tight enough if banks still allow the transit of illicit money through their systems. 

Corrupt leaders

Leaks such as the Pandora and Panama papers on offshore accounts held by African leaders will not stop if other countries continue to make it easy for money embezzled in the continent to be hidden within their territories. Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) is bearing fruits by intercepting the flow of embezzled funds but not many countries have signed up to include it in their domestic laws. With multiple quasi-legal financial routes to be exploited within the global financial systems, corrupt African leaders will explore these flaws to their full advantage.

Not many countries in Africa can save themselves from corruption for lack of effective judicial systems and/or their being corrupt. Corruption in the judiciary is partly the reason corruption thrives on the continent. Financial support and capacity building of Africa’s justice systems are desperately required to bring many corrupt leaders to book.

Corruption in Africa cannot be fought in a day. It is, indeed, not a sprint but a marathon. But that does not mean the international community and global financial systems should drag their feet while waiting for divine intervention. 

The countries issuing visa bans are the superpowers in global politics and have the muscle to push through international laws that will, firstly, make every UN member state responsible and focused on tackling corruption in Africa. Secondly, to make it harder for African leaders to invest embezzled funds abroad. Thirdly, to make corruption a crime triable at an international court. 

Africa needs more than visa bans to save it from festered corruption.

Ms Guyo is a legal researcher. [email protected]. @kdiguyo