Eurobond: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

The Eurobond saga has been going on for some time now. Still, there is nobody who knows the truth. Even the government itself seems not to be sure of what became of the Eurobond. Tongues have been breathing fire about this, especially from the opposition with the government maintaining that the Eurobond is safe. There is an old saying that goes, ‘Where there is smoke, there is fire’ and there has been smoke at the Treasury for far too long and most likely, there is fire.

Who are the major players behind the Eurobond? What really happened with the Eurobond? The matter concerning the Eurobond issue just got complicated after it emerged that a Qatari bank was included as a joint lead manager at the las minute in the 250 billion shillings Eurobond cash before flooding the issue on the Irish Stock Exchange. This brings the whole Eurobond issue into question and therefore, subjected to ethical inquiries.

The Qatar National Bank was not part of the initial deal of the acquiring of the Eurobond cash which included Backlays Bank, JP Morgan and the Standard Bank which had been listed as lead managers in the transaction. What is more shocking is the revelation that this Qatar National Bank enjoys very close relationship with some influential people in the Jubilee government. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has to look into the issue but many quarters are worried that the fact that the bank is related to some jubilee bigwigs, then EACC may not bare any fruits.

According to the National Treasury, out of 250 billion shillings of the sovereign bond, 35 billion shillings were utilized during the fiscal year of 2013-2014 and the remaining 140.5 billion shillings from the initial sovereign bond and the 75 billion shillings from the tap sales were utilized in the financial year of 2014-2015. According to this statement from the Treasury, it means that no money has been lost and that all the money was transparently spent something that has been vehemently refuted by both the activists as well as the opposition.

According to the Treasury CS Henry Rotich, from the Eurobond, 196 billion shillings were injected into the country’s infrastructure and a further 53 billion shillings were deposited in a foreign account with the intention of paying off the external debt that Kenya owed. These sentiments were dismissed shortly then by the Controller of Budget who told parliament that close to 176 billion shillings were unaccounted for but confirmed that 53 billion shillings had been withdrawn to service the loans owed by the government.

These two statements complicate the Eurobond issue even further. Kenyans are now confused as to the truth of this matter.

The opposition has maintained that the National Treasury has cooked figures in an effort to convince Kenyans that no money from the Eurobond has been lost but the National Treasury has refuted these claims. Something to note is that Kenyans will pay for the sins committed with regard to the Eurobond come rain or sunshine. Another thing to note is that the Eurobond is not a grant you are given and if you fail to pay you are forgiven. It is a debt which has to be paid. There is no such thing like ‘Can’t pay won’t pay’. If the Eurobond cash is lost, it is not the government that has lost but Kenyans, those who pay tax have.