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Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary Nominee Pushes Back Against Default Allegations

by Cobus van Staden
File image of Musalia Mudavadi, newly-elected Kenyan President William Ruto's nominee for Prime Cabinet Secretary. TONY KARUMBA / AFP

“We should not be a country that should walk into the defaulting mode,” says Musadia Mudavadi, a nominee to become Kenya’s new Cabinet Secretary. Mudavadi committed himself to meet Kenya’s obligations amid allegations that Nairobi defaulted on repayments for its Standard Gauge Railway loans in June, leading to a $10.8 million penalty.

These claims were published in a report by the Kenyan newspaper Business Daily, which circulated documents it said proved that Kenya fell behind on loan servicing. Kenya’s Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani rejected the allegation but didn’t provide competing documents to prove his argument that Kenya hasn’t missed a loan repayment in decades.

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