EACC maintains not criminal culpability in part of Govt in Eurobond scam

The Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko says his office will for the second time review files relating to the Eurobond scam.

Tobiko says that he has received the investigative file from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) recommending the closure of the case for what the anti-graft body terms as lack of evidence.

The DPP had directed EACC to carry out further investigations and resubmit the file to his office.

On January 8^th this year, EACC submitted the investigation file on Eurobond allegations with recommendations that the file be closed since they did not find any criminal culpability on the part of the government.

EACC further recommended that the matter be referred to the office of the Auditor General to carry out a special audit on the development projects that were implemented by the various ministries and government agencies.

Tobiko says he reviewed the file on January 22^nd, 2016 and directed the EACC to clarify and provide additional information on certain crucial areas he had identified.

Upon receiving the file for the second time Wednesday, the DPP said that he will review it and give further recommendations on whether to close it or not.

The DPP had tasked the EACC and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate claims by the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) that Ksh 140 billion was lost through dubious dealings.

In December 2015, CORD issued a 14-day ultimatum to the government and all companies that were involved in transactions in the Eurobond scandal to explain how the money was spent and who are the signatories of the accounts holding the money.

“Kenyans are victims of a single case of theft that is without precedent in our history. As citizens we have a right to a full and proper accounting of all loans borrowed in our names. Our children will be paying for this commercial debt and the thought that parts of it may have been stolen is too outrageous to contemplate,” read the CORD statement.

The opposition, led by Raila Odinga, has been stressing that billions shillings were looted and government’s books regarding the Eurobond were altered.

Odinga said that this was discovered after reviewing the Government Budget Out turn for the Financial Years 2013/14 and 2014/15 published by the National Treasury in two documents namely the Quarterly Economic and Budgetary Review for the Fourth Quarter of the FY 2014/15 dated August 2015.

CORD said that it had also studied the Budget Review and Outlook Paper dated September 2015.

The government has dismissed the allegations as baseless saying that no money was lost and the Eurobond funds were properly utilized.