Busia Senator and presidential hopeful Okiya Omtatah has pulled back the curtain on a powerful alliance in the fight against illegal borrowing in Kenya. On Wednesday, June 4, Omtatah revealed that the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has officially thrown its weight behind his explosive court petition challenging odious debt.
In a country plagued by questionable loans, this development marks a significant shift. The CBK’s support lends serious credibility to a case that could rewrite Kenya’s financial future. For millions of Kenyans burdened by ballooning public debt, this could be the moment everything changes.
CBK Backs Legal Battle to Expose Odious Debt
In court filings, the Central Bank confirmed it supports Omtatah’s petition that seeks to interrogate how billions were borrowed, mismanaged and hidden from public scrutiny. The CBK, led by Governor Kamau Thugge, declared that the case raises key constitutional concerns. These include abuse of public finance laws, irregular offshore deposits and violations of the Public Finance Management Act.
“The Central Bank of Kenya has officially backed our petition on odious debt,” said Omtatah. “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.”
The bank also signaled it would support the senator’s request to have the petition heard by an uneven number of judges. The goal is to ensure the case gets the serious judicial consideration it deserves. According to CBK’s filing, the petition “raises substantial, contested issues of undoubted public importance” and needs a constitutional interpretation from a diverse bench.
The petition, refiled in 2025, follows a tactical withdrawal of an earlier version submitted in 2015. Omtatah had initiated the original petition during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration but faced a decade of procedural hurdles. “We had to withdraw the old petition to avoid a legal disaster,” said Omtatah. “We refiled it immediately to sidestep technical traps that had blocked the hearing.”
At the heart of this new legal war is the odious debt doctrine—a principle that a country should not be forced to repay loans that were acquired without public consent and never benefited the citizens.
How odious debt crushed public trust
The odious debt petition puts Kenya’s murky Eurobond deals under the spotlight. The petitioners allege that proceeds from the bonds were unlawfully stashed in offshore accounts, bypassing the Consolidated Fund. This, they say, violated both the Constitution and national finance laws.
Omtatah argues that billions were borrowed and then spirited away in schemes that Kenyans neither approved nor benefited from. “We are not just talking about technical violations,” he said. “This is grand theft dressed up as national development.”
By supporting the petition, the CBK has indirectly confirmed that there are serious issues surrounding Kenya’s public debt practices. This raises troubling questions. Who approved these debts? Where did the money go? Who should be held responsible?
If the court rules in favor of Omtatah, the decision could set a legal precedent. Future regimes may be forced to reconsider or even repudiate illegitimate debts. It could also empower citizens to demand full transparency on public borrowing.
A turning point in Kenya’s debt fight
The CBK’s decision to back the petition may be a watershed moment in the country’s economic history. It is rare for a government institution to side with a litigant in a case that directly challenges state operations. This move signals that even institutions within the state have grown uneasy with the ballooning debt levels.
Kenya’s total public debt has surpassed Sh11 trillion. Yet, services continue to deteriorate, and tax pressure on citizens is at an all-time high. Many Kenyans wonder what the debt has achieved, if anything.
The petition demands clarity, not only on the Eurobond billions but on all loans acquired without public oversight. If successful, the case could open the door to audits of other shadowy deals, exposing a culture of impunity that has crippled Kenya’s economy.
Omtatah, long regarded as a lone warrior in courtrooms, now finds himself with a powerful ally. With the CBK behind him, the case is no longer just a political statement. It is a legal threat to decades of financial mismanagement.
This moment is bigger than one petition. It is a rallying cry for all Kenyans who have paid the price for corrupt deals and hidden debts. The fight against odious debt has found new strength—and it may be unstoppable.
