Details of Eurobond findings that left Ouko terribly harassed and finally silenced

Related image

He spares none and has been seen behind many of the headlines that has exposed the looting of billions of Kenyan money by officials and ministries at the top.However some politicians are said to be dangerous if messed with and they once managed to scare Ouko.

Mr Ouko the fearless auditor was on an exposure path when he found that the National Treasury could not satisfy him that the proceeds of the first Eurobond were brought into the country in full.

He sparked a national storm when he declared on Note 409 of his reservations in the audit report covering the 2014/2015 financial year.

Image result for eurobond saga kenya images

The Auditor General said while following the trail of the proceeds of the billions Kenya had borrowed, he chose to sample a few ministries to establish if what officers from the National Treasury were saying was indeed true.

He picked the State Department of Water as one of his guinea pigs. Here, he came face to face with his suspicions. The ministry had received Sh11.1 billion from the sovereign bond that year.

However, the management could not provide even just one project that was funded by the Eurobond proceeds.  “In the circumstance, it has not been possible to confirm how the Eurobond funds were utilised,” noted Ouko.

Related image

This was the start of his problems and perhaps one of the wires he should never have touched.

He would ignore indirect warnings sent to his office and his men and continue with his investigations. The following year, he stuck to his guns and continued his crusade against the pilferage.

“I wish to draw your attention to Note 5.7 in the statement of receipts into and issues from the National Exchequer Account for the year ended June 30, 2016 which reflects an Exchequer balance of Sh203,491,419 brought forward from 2014/2015 financial year,” wrote Ouko.

Image result for eurobond saga kenya images

“As indicated in the Auditor’s Report for 2014/2015, the receipt of net proceeds from commercial financing (Sovereign/Euro Bond) of Sh215,469,626,036 accounted for in 2014/2015 financial year could not be ascertained as investigation into the receipts, issues, accounting and utilisation of the funds related to the Sovereign/Euro Bond was still on-going as at 30 June 2016.”

He took another decisive step to send a team to New York and London to get assurance from all the banks that were involved in the transactions, including JP Morgan and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.   This step was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

Image result for eurobond saga kenya images

President Uhuru Kenyatta would swear in his mother tongue that Ouko was wasting his time with the investigation and he would not allow him to keep poking his nose in places he should not.

A House heavily controlled by the Jubilee side was, like a fawning lapdog, charged with the duty of bringing Ouko down in a most shameless scheme.

A private petitioner was roped in with a claim that the Auditor General accumulated a Sh1million bill on his iPad while overseas, besides allocating official cars to members of his family.  Ouko in his usual steely manner refused to take the beating lying down and sued both the President and Parliament.

Related image

He submitted through his lawyer Otiende Amolo that Uhuru should not be allowed to sign a recommendation by the National Assembly to have a tribunal investigate him, a move that would have seen him step aside.

He termed the process rushed, malicious and intended to irreparably violate his fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution.  But by the time he was coming out of this storm, he was limping and brutally harassed.

He retreated and went dead silent on the matter only promising that his report would be out first before the General Election, then after the polls then nothing.

Do you think Ouko might again continue with the probe mission?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *