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Kenyan prosecutor investigating Eurobond spending
Kenya's Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko smiles inside the High Court in Nairobi in a file photo. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
02/12/2015
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's public prosecutor has asked the country's anti-graft body and police to file a report within 10 days into possible irregularities from spending of the country's $2 billion Eurobond.
Kenyan media has questioned whether a portion of the money was embezzled, and opposition leader Raila Odinga said on Tuesday said that the government could not account for 140 billion shillings ($1.37 billion) from the Eurobond.
Kenyan Finance Minister Henry Rotich has denied any money went missing, and on Wednesday invited Odinga to the Treasury to examine government spending on the Eurobond.
Public frustration has mounted in recent months over the failure to prosecute top officials accused of corruption. That has put pressure on President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose popularity has been weakened by the furore.
The Eurobond spending is under investigation by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and by the police's Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko said.
In a letter to both agencies, Tobiko said: "Interrogate, record statements and obtain evidence from all parties concerned and forward the complete file to my office within 10 days."
Kenyatta reshuffled some of his cabinet earlier this week after several ministers stepped aside because of allegations of corruption, an of growing concern to Kenyans.
In an unusual move, last month the ambassadors of the United States, Britain and nine other countries said Kenya faced a "corruption crisis" and they would step up efforts to prevent the flow of illicit funds out of the country.
(Reporting by Drazen Jorgic and Humphrey Malalo, editing by Edith Honan, Larry King)
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