In the run-up to the August 9, 2022 polls, economic issues, particularly public debt and joblessness, took center stage.
The Kenya Kwanza team led by William Ruto suggested that Kenya had over-borrowed, a habit they pledged to stop.
But Ruto, who is now in power, seems determined to even borrow more than his predecessor if the recent utterances by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua are anything to go by.
Gachagua, in an interview with Inoro FM on Friday, October 6, revealed that President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza government is set to borrow KSh 150 billion from China.
The second in command said the money is meant to complete stalled road projects launched by retired President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Gachagua said Ruto will personally travel to Beijing to negotiate that loan.
He further said that the Head of State will also seek an extension of credit service for loans borrowed by previous regimes.
“We are going to borrow KSh 150 billion from China to complete stalled roads. The president will soon be traveling to China to negotiate that loan and also seek an extension of credit service for earlier loans,” Gachagua said.
As of much 2023, Kenya’s debt to China stood at $6.31 billion (KSh 868.8 billion according to the current exchange rate) accounting for 67 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Global institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are concerned about Kenya’s debt sustainability.
However, Gachagua dismissed sections of media reports that the Kenya Kwanza government has over-borrowed adding that the government has instead paid a substantial amount of loans borrowed by the previous regime.
“The allegations that the government has over-borrowed in the last year isn’t truthful; we have, instead, paid a substantive amount of debts,” Gachagua said.
