In his annual letter to Congress on the matter United States President Barack Obama named seven people who should be added to the list of Foreign Narcotics Kingpins. There were two Mexicans, a Colombian, one each from Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan and two Kenyans, including a serving member of Parliament.

Kenyan MP John Harun Mwau and businesswoman Naima Mohamed Nyakiniywa are now subject to US sanctions in accordance with the 1999 Kingpin Act.

Everyone knows and accepts that Kenya’s politicians are, for the most part, a self-serving and corrupt bunch but being named a druglord by the President of the U.S. surely plumbs new depths.

Mwau has not yet commented on his new infamy (nor has the businesswoman Nyakinywa) but it shows the contempt in which politicians are generally held that to many Kenyans it is no surprise that a powerful public figure might be elbows-deep in the global drugs trade.

The 62-year old businessman and politician is known for his love of dark sunglasses and leather jackets. When Mwau ran for president in 1992 his campaign nickname was "The Boss." He has been accused of involvement in the drugs trade before and launched a spirited denial in Parliament but that seems not to have convinced the U.S.

Last year former U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger included Mwau on a list of senior political and business figures he believed were involved in the drugs trade in Kenya, which mostly involves the transshipment of Asian heroin to Europe and elsewhere.