John Harun

John Harun, known as “The Boss”, competed in two Olympics as a shooter for Kenya, oddly as a rifle shooter in 1968 and then a pistol shooter in 1972. He was a Kenyan police officer who later became a businessman and politician, but the nature of his businesses are not fully clear. As a politician Harun was a member of he Kilome Constitutency, which he represented in Parliament. He was the founding chairman of the Party of Independent Candidates of Kenya (PICK) and was the first director of the Kenyan Anti-Corruption Authority. In 1992 Harun ran unsuccessfully for President of Kenya, and in 2013 he stood for two different elections for Kenyan Senate, but failed to win both times.

Harun amassed a fortune estimated at close to $1 billion (US) and in 2011 US President Barack Obama alleged that Harun was a narcotics kingpin and froze his assets in the United States, felt to be close to $750 million (US). Certain articles have also implied that Harun may have once been a CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) operative for the United States. Another Kenyan politician, George Saitoti, speaking on the floor of Parliament, named Harun and several other Kenyan politicians as drug barons.

It is believed that Harun started his drug trafficking while he was travelling internationally during his shooting career, as his status at that time gave him access. Investigations by the Kenyan Police showed that Harun’s wealth came from his position as director of 12 different independent companies as follows: Mwundo Ltd, Africa Centre for Hope Initiative Everywhere, Harun International Ltd, JH City Ltd, Preme Ltd, JN Records Ltd, Pepe Enterprises Ltd, Sheltown Ltd, Sports Champions Ltd, Tom Brown Ltd, Vitu Ltd, and Kuston Kenya Ltd. US Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger noted that “the list of corrupt individuals in Kenya would not be complete without Mwau.”