Odinga gave the Treasury and all other parties involved in the floating of the Eurobond and in the handling of the funds raised, 14 days to furnish him with information/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 2 – Opposition leader Raila Odinga has turned down an invitation to the National Treasury for Friday morning at which time he was to receive answers to the questions he’s raised on the contentious Eurobond.
Odinga through advocate Paul Mwangi has instead demanded that the answers be publicised.
“Inviting our client to peruse documents in your office, whether he is accompanied by the media or not, is not a way to adhere to the express mandates to the Constitution respecting your accountability to the public,” Mwangi wrote in response to the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich.
On Tuesday, Odinga gave the Treasury and all other parties involved in the floating of the Eurobond and in the handling of the funds raised, 14 days to furnish him with information on the offshore accounts into which billions were credited, the signatories and transactions executed.
“Barclays Bank PLC, J.P Morgan Securities PLC, both of the United Kingdom, QNB Capital LLC of Doha, Qatar and Standard Bank PLC, also of the United Kingdom, as the joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners of The National Treasury,” Raila listed as the other financial institutions from which he demanded answers.
A few hours later, Rotich responded to Odinga’s demand letter by inviting him to Treasury where he said: “The representatives of the organisations you sought information from will be present.”
The next morning (Wednesday) the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko gave the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission 10 days within which to forward to his office the findings of their investigations into the management of the bond.
“I am informed that your respective agencies have commenced and are undertaking investigations into the matter. This is therefore to direct you to interrogate, record statements and obtain evidence from all parties concerned.”
Also on Wednesday, an activist, Okiyah Omtata, moved to court to demand that any and all information on the Eurobond be made public. He said he sought the information in his personal capacity to no avail.
And while the National Treasury contends that it has already published, in local dailies, information detailing how much was raised through the bond and how it’s being spent, Raila on Tuesday said he was not convinced.
“Given the contradictory statements of officials, and the very obviously cooked accounts emerging from different official departments, we are forced to the alarming and unprecedented conclusion that once again Kenyans are victims of a single case of theft that is without precedent in our history.”
READ: Ruto takes on Raila over Eurobond
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