Busia Senator and Presidential hopeful Okiya Omtatah has revealed that the Central Bank of Kenya has backed his petition on odious debt.
Odious debt is a legal concept that suggests a government should not be obligated to repay debts incurred by a previous, often dictatorial government, if the debts were contracted without the people's consent and did not benefit them.
In a statement on Wednesday, June 4, the senator revealed that the bank had supported his petition in court filings, raising serious questions regarding illegal borrowing, debt mismanagement and public finance abuse brought up in Omtatah's petition.
"The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has officially backed our petition on ODIOUS DEBT. In court filings, CBK affirms that the petition raises substantial constitutional questions on illegal borrowing, debt mismanagement and public finance abuse," Omtatah stated.
"They support the empanelment of a multi-judge bench under Article 165(4). A monumental step in the fight for justice, accountability and economic liberation for Kenyans; now and in future."
In court documents shared by Omtatah, the Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), Dr Kamau Thugge, announced that the CBK would also support the senators' call for the empanelment of a bench of judges, an uneven number, to hear the petition on 11 grounds.
"Take notice that the governor, the Central Bank of Kenya, the 19th Respondent herein, shall support the 9th Respondent's application dated 14 May 2025 and the Petitioners' prayer for empanelment of a bench in the Application dated 24 April 2025," part of the CBK statement read.
Among these grounds is the assertion that the petition raises substantial, contested issues of undoubted public importance, requiring a multi-faceted approach to interpreting the Constitution.
On April 24, Omtatah withdrew the odious debt petition filed in 2015 during former President Uhuru Kenyatta's regime, and subsequently refiled it in the same court to evade technicalities that had plagued the case, delaying its hearing for nearly a decade.
"After consultations and given the technical objections raised by the court, it has become untenable to proceed with this petition in the manner that it was. So we have withdrawn it tactically to avoid the cascading disaster that was before us,” Omtatah stated.
"However, we are going to refile the same immediately so that we can avoid all those technicalities that were being placed in our way like minefields,” he added.
The odious debt petition seeks to highlight the mismanagement of public funds and a lack of transparency in the handling of Eurobond proceeds.
The petitioners claim that the funds were unlawfully deposited into offshore accounts instead of the Consolidated Fund, in violation of constitutional provisions and the Public Finance Management Act.
They are therefore seeking accountability and transparency regarding the utilisation of the Eurobond funds.
