“Look,” says Kimani Ichung’wa, chairman of the Parliamentary Budget and Appropriations Committee, “our economy is beaten and we are not able to pay. We are not saying the debt is not there, but we simply want to renegotiate what we owe you and the terms of payment.”

But debt is not the only issue, nor is it all about infrastructure projects. The huge trade imbalance between China and the EAC partner states is another major stumbling block.