Mudavadi, activists demand information on Eurobond

Human rights activists Okiya Omtatah and his counterpart Nyakina Gisebe have sued President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich for withholding explanation on Eurobond transactions.

Omtatah together with Gisebe filed their case at the Milimani Law Courts on Thursday seeking information on funds borrowed by the government from the international markets that they claim has not been accounted for as per the law.

They argued that those involved in the legal handling of the Eurobond funds must be held to account, and expressed disappointment that Acts of the Constitution had been violated by the respondents in dealing with the Eurobond which has led to the alleged loss of Ksh197 billion.

The two added that by banking the money in an offshore account, the executive violated the law as the Eurobond finances were away from oversight and accountability organs established by the law.

The human rights activists want the court to make a finding that the petition is an arguable case and the general public should be furnished with information as regards to the dealings.

They further demanded that the case file be placed before the chief justice for the matter to be treated as a priority.

Similarly, Amani National Congress (ANC) party leader Musalia Mudavadi on Thursday asked National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich to make public all the information on the Ksh275 billion Eurobond dealings.

Mudavadi criticized the move by Rotich to invite Cord leader Raila Odinga to Treasury to scrutinize the details on the transactions saying that the information is not a concern of one or two individuals but of all Kenyans.

“If the CS has nothing to hide he should not call one or two people to his office but provide the statement to be tabulated,” he said.

Mudavadi said that the government ought to have banked the cash in Central Bank’s consolidated account and give the statement to the public.

“The government did not bank the cash at the Central Bank that’s why they have found themselves in trouble,” he said.

Mudavadi added that the CS should have invited the Auditor General to go through the files and see how the money has been spent.

“The office of Auditor General is a big office and Rotich should have handed them the audited reports to give to the public,” he said.

Odinga on Wednesday declined the invitation by CS Rotich saying that the information should be made public because Kenyans are the ones going to pay for it.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko on Wednesday ordered detectives from Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions to probe the Eurobond dealings and present the report to him within ten days.