Major lawsuit over ‘illegal’ Kenya IMF loan

Kenya's Attorney-General Justice Kihara Kariuki and the East African Community (EAC) Secretary-General Peter Mathuki have been named as first and second respondents in a case filed by two Kenyan organisations at the East African Court of Justice. In their application, the Peasants League Company (PLC) and the Kenya Abolition Debt Network have sued the government and the EAC over Kenya's IMF loans. The East African reports that Nairobi is accused of failing to observe the public debt ceiling as provided for in the EAC Monetary Union in its decision to borrow $2.34bn from the IMF in April. Through Lumumba and Ayieko Advocates, the two organisations claim Kenya continued to borrow loans beyond the set EAC public debt ceiling, in violation of its own national laws, the EAC Treaty and the union’s. PLC is a Kenyan company that brings together small-scale farmers and consumers with an aim of promoting agroecology, food sovereignty, climate justice and fair trade.