Busia Senator and Lawyer Okiya Omtatah has faulted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for enabling the ballooning of Kenya’s debt by continuing to provide the funds to Kenya despite glaring evidence of corruption and mismanagement.
“These institutions cannot feign ignorance. Wire transfers leave digital trails. The looted money was laundered into known tax havens, and global intelligence agencies were fully aware of these transactions. Yet, loans were granted without due diligence,” Omtatah pointed out.
The activist has alleged that Kenyans are paying for debts that never benefitted them while revealing his investigations into the country’s Ksh10 trillion debt.
While announcing that he will be headed to court to fight for justice and ask for an audit of the Kenyan debt, Omtatah revealed that while debts are taken by leaders for alleged development, the money is pocketed by corrupt individuals.
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah at the Supreme Court
“Why should the citizens of Kenya bear the burden of repaying loans that were never intended to benefit them? Why should those who facilitated these loans, only to siphon public funds into their private offshore accounts, walk free while the people struggle under oppressive economic conditions?” the Senator asked.
According to Omtatah, some of these loans are taken without the proper constitutional requirements. The law provides that all external borrowing be approved by Parliament as stipulated under Article 211 of the Constitution and Section 50 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012.
The lawyer has called on all Kenyans, civil society organizations, and international partners committed to transparency and justice to join him as he seeks justice.
He is demanding a public audit of Kenya’s external debt to determine which loans were acquired legally and which were fraudulent or unconstitutional, and the prosecution of individuals and institutions responsible for acquiring, facilitating, and looting.
Omtatah is also demanding the recovery of stolen funds allegedly accumulated in offshore accounts and the formulation of a legal framework to prevent future reckless borrowing, parliamentary oversight, and public participation in debt management.
The lawyer has pointed out the importance of the audit and accountability to secure Kenya’s future.
“We will not allow future generations to be enslaved by debt accumulated through corruption and impunity. The looters must return what they took, and those who enabled these financial crimes must be held accountable,” stated Omtatah.
As of July 2024, the public debt in Kenya accumulated to roughly Ksh10.6 trillion.
This is a sharp increase in the public debt over the years, in January 2021, the debt was at Ksh7 trillion, which increased to Ksh8 trillion in November 2022 and subsequent years.
The National Treasury building in Nairobi County.
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National Treasury