For many Kenyans, the Port of Mombasa is much more than just a container terminal that facilitates shipping trade with the outside world. It’s a prized national asset that serves as an indispensable economic hub for all of East Africa and a facility that hundreds of thousands of people, maybe even millions, depend upon for their livelihoods.

So last December, people were shocked when leaked images of a report from the Kenya Auditor General’s office revealed, for the first time, the terms of the Chinese loans used to finance the $3.2 billion Nairobi to Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line. To say that people were stunned would be putting it mildly.