High Court to Hear Omtatah's Landmark Challenge to Kenya's 'Odious Debt' on March 10, 2026
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah Okoiti and a group of co-petitioners are set to appear before the Milimani High Court in Nairobi on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, for the opening of hearings in a high-stakes constitutional petition contesting what they describe as illegally contracted public debt.
The case, registered as HCCHRPET E216 of 2025, targets more than KSh 6.8 trillion in borrowings that the petitioners claim were taken without proper parliamentary approval, public consent, or traceable use within the Kenyan economy. They argue that this portion of the country's total debt—now well above KSh 13 trillion—falls under the international legal category of "odious debt," meaning loans incurred against the will and interests of the people.
The petitioners maintain that successive administrations borrowed these enormous sums in violation of the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act, with large amounts allegedly siphoned to secret offshore accounts or spent outside any approved budget framework. Key examples cited include the controversial 2014 and 2018 Eurobond issuances, where funds reportedly never entered the official Consolidated Fund as required by law. Among the 22 respondents named in the suit are former President Uhuru Kenyatta, current President William Ruto, National Treasury CSs past and present, the Auditor General, the Controller of Budget, the National Assembly leadership, and even the International Monetary Fund, all accused of either enabling the irregularities or failing to stop them.
Central to the petitioners' demand is accountability: they want those responsible for authorizing and managing these loans to publicly explain to ordinary Kenyans why citizens are being subjected to heavy taxation and painful austerity measures to repay debts they never approved, never benefited from, and in many cases never even knew existed. If the court rules in favor of the petitioners, it could declare significant portions of the debt unenforceable, potentially providing massive fiscal relief and establishing a powerful legal precedent for holding public borrowing accountable across the continent. The Central Bank of Kenya has already expressed support for aspects of the petition, and the matter has been referred to Chief Justice Martha Koome for assignment to a multi-judge bench, signaling its national importance.
