Intesa San Paolo, the Italian bank, says that Kenya has failed instalment payment even amid investigations into the allegations that billions of shillings shared in foreign banks and never wired to Kenya government accounts. Kenya defaulted on the Sh19.6 billion loan for the controversial Arror and Kimwarer dams, failing to make the first instalment payment to the Italian bank in May. According to documents presented to Parliament, the Treasury has yet to make payments on loans associated with the two dams.
According to court filings by Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji, Mr Rotich facilitated the direct payment of the amount to Italy’s SACE Insurance, which is illegal in Kenyan law. This requires that all payments be processed through the consolidated account in Kenya. The State believes that the push to avoid wiring money to the consolidated fund was designed to facilitate bribes and kickbacks.
President Uhuru Kenyatta cancelled the projects in September 2019 after receiving a report from a specialised committee he formed in response to the discovery of irregularities and improprieties surrounding the two mega infrastructure projects. The cancellations occurred during a game fiscal year in which the Arror dam received Sh11 billion and an additional Sh5.2 billion intended for Kimwarer was wired to Kenya.
