EADB's Kenya operations on the spot amid Sh6.6b loss fears

Gregory Ndege, from Gregory Ndege & Associates (right), flanked by former Kilome MP John Mutiso, makes his submission during a stakeholders’ engagement on the East African Development Bank (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 33 of 2026) before the Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning at Bunge Towers, Nairobi, yesterday. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Questions have emerged over the operations of the East African Development Bank (EADB) in Kenya amid reports claiming the loss of about Sh6.6 billion of taxpayers’ money if no action is taken.

This came amid revelations that no dividend payout has been made in years and attempts by various stakeholders to address the matter surrounding the bank have not borne any fruit.

It also comes against the backdrop of the ongoing presentation on the East African Development Bank (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 33 of 2026), where stakeholders poked holes into the proposed law, saying it should not be allowed to pass as it is.

Stakeholders from Gregory Ndege and Associates, who appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Finance yesterday, laid bare some of the controversies surrounding EADB, which they say could further be deepened by the proposed bill.

The firm, led by advocate Gregory Ndege and John Mutinda Mutiso, a former ambassador and legislator, said the proposed bill leaves several constitutional, governance and accountability concerns unresolved.

“Many stakeholders have tried to come to this Parliament either through petitions or questions, but for the last five years, issues pertaining to EADB have not been addressed by this Hous,” Mutinda told the committee chaired by Kitui Rural MP David Mboni.

“The taxpayers’ money is paid directly to the bank without consulting Parliament. It is the only institution in the world and the only law in the world for respectable democratic countries where we have this kind of law. How it came to be, nobody has ever explained it,” Mutinda added.

He said taxpayers’ money, estimated at about Sh6.6 billion, is taken from the consolidated bank, deposited in EADB and is purported to also take the interest of Kenyans.

“And that money, nobody knows where it is or what it does. Kenya has never received a single cent of dividend from that bank. We are talking about Kenyan money equivalent to Sh6.6 taken from Consolidated Bank and put into EADB, and no one knows where it is or what it does, and Kenya has never received it; this is the magnitude of the problem,” he said.

According to him, the Sh6.6 billion would be able to employ 27,000 youths at about Sh20,000 each per month or an additional 11,000 teachers at a rate of about Sh30,000 per month.

However, he claimed that no one can question the monies owing to what has been termed ‘diplomatic immunity’ granted to the bank several years ago.

“You tax us, take our money, and then you tell us we can’t ask you? Parliament cannot question you? Kenya is actually a very unique case whenever there is a discussion of EADB; even when you go to the corridors of the World Bank and IMF, they ask, ‘What is happening in Kenya ...?’ Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda have done it properly. They are accountable. Whenever you ask about Kenya, someone works their hand and tells you that it’s a no-go zone,” Mutinda told the committee.

He also stated that EADB has been made a diplomatic mission with immunities and privileges like those of an ambassador and embassy so that they cannot be questioned or tried, but this cannot be allowed to continue.

Ndege said some of the principal concerns raised include the fact that the bill does not adequately define or limit the scope of immunity enjoyed by EADB while undertaking commercial activities in the country.