This archive report was first published on 25 July 2019.
On Thursday, the Kenyan shilling hit a two-year low against the US dollar, a move attributed to the uncertainty caused by the sacking of Treasury CS Henry Rotich on corruption charges.
Rotich was charged on Monday, marking an unprecedented event for a sitting Cabinet Secretary. The charges stem from a police investigation into the misuse of funds in a dam project overseen by Italian construction company CMC Di Ravenna.
According to data from Tradeweb, bonds maturing in 2028, 2032, and 2048 slipped around 0.5 cents in the dollar, while the shilling lost 0.8 percent since the charges were preferred on Monday.
Rotich and his co-accused, PS Kamau Thugge, denied any wrongdoing in the Sh21 billion dams scandal. However, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji said he has gathered sufficient evidence to prosecute the officers as quickly as possible.
"The persons we are prosecuting today were mandated to safeguard public interest but failed," Haji said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has since appointed Labour Minister Ukur Yatani as acting Treasury CS, a move that has brought some stability to the market.
