APRM • SECOND COUNTRY REVIEW REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA corruption. The government has accepted the recommendations and advised to prioritize by classifying the recommendations into short run and long-term implementation plans for effectiveness. 2.16 The various institutions/organizations are poorly coordinated making follow-through of corruption cases to a final determination a difficult task and time-consuming process. The general perception of the people during the CRM was that the country’s judicial process is slow resulting in many cases going without hearing for very long periods of time. However, there is notable improvement with the ongoing judicial reforms. The challenges of money laundering are numerous. Kenya’s location and porous borders make it an important transit point for drug trafficking and money laundering, and the limited capacity of financial institutions and relevant bodies to detect, investigate and prosecute money laundering are two major problems that cannot be ignored in the fight against money laundering. 2.17 With regard to regional integration, Kenya is a member of the East Africa Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Kenya is also a member of the World Trade Organisation that came into existence on 1st January 1995. It is the only international institution tasked with overseeing the negotiations and implementation of rules governing the multilateral trading system. In terms of the regional integration process, COMESA entered an FTA in 2000 and became a Custom Union on 8th June 2009. Kenya is up-to-date with regard to the level of implementation of EAC and COMESA integration programmes. The payment system with the EAC member states is being harmonised and Kenya’s trade with EAC members has increased; and Kenya is in the forefront of the removal of trade barriers. 2.18 Kenya has taken the lead to expand financial services in the regional member countries. However, some challenges are evident, namely, the existence of non-tariff barriers that hinder the free movement of goods and services, limited public awareness and participation in regional trade, lack of reciprocity from other member states of the EAC, and the presence of counterfeits that encumber trade in locally produced goods. The Government of Kenya is advised to spearhead the articulation of a compensatory mechanism whereby any member state that records revenue loss due to the removal of tariffs and trade barriers is adequately compensated. 2.19 The Government of Kenya has taken various steps over the years to facilitate trade and investments. This has involved enacting various legislations that have improved the business environment and enhanced the ease of doing business significantly. Capacity has been developed for technology adoption and value addition and integrating MSMES into the market value chains, especially in the agricultural sector. Export products and markets are now diversified, but are still limited to agricultural products. 2.20 New discoveries of mineral and oil wealth have reinvigorated the importance of the extractive industry to the economy. Their commercial prospects could potentially provide significant foreign exchange and fiscal resources, and, ultimately, potentially spur faster economic growth and job creation. The viability of the mineral wealth could also have a large impact on investor sentiments and an attractor of trade and investments. However, growth of this | 37 |