Cord leader Raila Odinga yesterday named nine individuals, mostly senior officials of the Treasury and Central Bank of Kenya, as "persons of interest” in relation to the Eurobond saga.
Raila said the individuals he named should step aside and President Uhuru Kenyatta should declare the issue a "national disaster."
The term “person of interest” is used by American law enforcement to identify someone involved in a criminal investigation who has yet to be arrested and formally charged with a crime.
The opposition chief however failed to adduce any evidence linking the nine to the alleged disappearance of Eurobond proceeds, despite repeatedly insisting that Sh140 billion of the sovereign fund is missing.
“No outright assertion that X,Y,Z is a beneficiary. We are saying this is where the trail stops and further investigations need to be conducted,” said Alex Owino, Cord’s lead financial consultant and expert in tracing the Eurobond proceeds.
But Raila's statement promises to bring legal trouble his way, with Central Bank chairman Mohamed Nyaoga, a lawyer, threatening to sue the Cord leader.
Nyaoga, who had not taken office at the time of the Eurobond transactions, said that Raila was highly mistaken.
“I want to take this opportunity to categorically state that I was not involved either directly or indirectly in the Eurobond transactions. This is a cheap statement and it constitutes reckless impunity," Nyaoga said.
He added, “I am indeed surprised that the people who are making these claims did not bother to ascertain the truth before floating [them] out.”
Raila also named President Kenyatta's right-hand man and Chief of Staff Joseph Kinyua and Treasury CS Henry Rotich as key players in what he described as the “grand robbery of Kenya”.
Also roped into the alleged Sh140 billion saga are Treasury PS Kamau Thugge, former CBK Governor Njuguna Ndung’u, Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo and Treasury staffers Benard Ndung’u, John Birech, Moses Muthui and Patrick Kamau.
The government floated the sovereign bond in 2014 to fund key infrastructure projects and help stabilise the local economy.
Raila was accompanied by Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula and Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua, among a host of Cord-allied MPs and other leaders.
Raila said he will not rest until “we get to the bottom of this matter, responsibility is assigned and punishment awarded”.
“We expect that Treasury officials will resign immediately, and an international forensic audit done so that they are arraigned in court for undermining the constitution and concoction of documents to cover up massive loss of public funds,” Raila said.
Raila said an international network of money laundering cartels is working in cahoots with the Jubilee administration, comprising lawyers, bankers, and their intermediaries in New York, Qatar and South Africa, to raid the country's public coffers.
“This is theft of public resources on a scale never seen before in our country,” he declared.
Raila earlier addressed international journalists regarding the Eurobond at the Foreign Correspondents' Association of East Africa.