National Treasury CS John Mbadi has 45 days to provide information on all sovereign bond agreements signed between the Kenyan government and other states, the High Court has ruled.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi sitting at the Milimani law Courts said the CS and Attorney General should also provide information concerning how the funds raised from the sovereign bonds were or have been spent.
The information is to be relayed to the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Wanjiru Gikonyo who sued the state in 2022 after failure to provide them with information on Kenya's debt obligation.
The two had written a letter dated February 7, 2022, addressed to CS Treasury seeking information on the list of Kenya's sovereign bond holders including beneficial ownership information of the issuing companies among other issues.
The information was, however, not supplied with the state arguing that the petitioners had failed to demonstrate the necessity of the documents sought.
The state also argued that the information the petitioners were seeking was readily available in the public domain.
They told Justice Mugambi that the annual budget policy statement provides information for all the monies borrowed in each year and the same is subject to public participation.
But the Judge in issuing an order compelling CS Mbadi to provide the information said the reasons advanced by the state were not justifiable.
"The CS insists the information is readily available in budget policy statements but what is contained in the budget policy statements are proposals for borrowing and not records of what has actually been borrowed,"
The Judge said the refusal by the state to supply the information sought violated the right of access to information and the principle of openness and accountability in financial matters.
He subsequently ordered CS Mbadi to provide information sought within the next 45 days.
"This shall be information on all sovereign bond agreements signed by the Government of Kenya and any bond that contain the terms and conditions in case of default as set out in the said letter," Justice Mugambi directed.
He also issued a declaration that the failure to provide information relating to sovereign bonds floated for and on behalf of Kenya in the past nine years by the National Executive is unconstitutional as it violated the principle of openness and financial accountability in matters of public finance.
