Deputy President (DP) William Ruto stated that Kenya as a nation is living beyond its economic means during the Tuesday, July 26 presidential debate.
The DP who is angling for the country’s top seat on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party ticket argued that Kenya should stop borrowing for its financial growth.
“Our debt today is challenging. We need to deal with it. We are sitting pretty. If I may say we are living beyond our means. That is why I say we should stop our borrowing spree,” The DP said in response to Standard Group’s Eric Latiff’s question on Kenya’s debt.
The DP further revealed that in the first term of UhuruRuto’s government which began in 2013, Ruto said he and Uhuru borrowed Ksh2.2 trillion from outside sources for its economic development projects.
“In our first term, we borrowed Ksh2.2 trillion. In 2017 our handshake brothers borrowed 4.2 trillion. That is the source of concern and it’s not a source of concern to me it’s a source of concern to Kenyans as well. And it’s even a source of concern to our development partners who are beginning to raise issues towards our date,” Ruto added.
In his defence, President Uhuru’s Deputy said if elected to take over after his boss on August 9th, his administration will slow down on borrowing in an economic plan to stabilise the economy as per their manifesto.
“Our administration will first slow down on borrowing remove unbudgeted projects because that is the biggest incentive and then go back to raising our own revenue,” Ruto argued.
The DP in his argument during the debate further stated that Kenya has been spending money on projects that were not budged adding that the cost of those projects is to blame for the high cost of living currently in the country.
“For example, the Uhuru Gardens Museum. You don’t see it anywhere in government budgets. But it’s been built. So in this kind of budget, we’ve spent close to Ksh15 billion,” Ruto said.
In response to another question from Latiff on how much-unbudgeted projects have cost the country, Ruto said, “actually, unbudgeted projects are in the region of Ksh100 billion. And that is what is spiralling our borrowing and that is why when you check on the Ministry of Finance website you will hardly find any paperwork there. Because there are too many projects that cannot be accounted for. That is being done without a budget line. If you look at the expenditure on contingency fund, which is supposed to be limited to 5% of the budget at times exceeds 50%,” the DP said.
Ruto’s statement during the debate came hours after President Uhuru lashed out at him, accusing Ruto of engaging in political doublespeak and spreading lies over the Naivasha Inland Container Depot (ICD)
While defending the construction of the Naivasha ICD, Uhuru said unlike the information being spread by Ruto, the project would not in any way affect or interfere with operations at the port of Mombasa.
Instead, Kenyatta said the Naivasha ICD is developed to enhance the ease of cargo haulage and handling in the country by reducing congestion at Mombasa Port, Nairobi ICD and on the roads
“A whole leader standing in public and saying look at these people, they have moved the railway and port to Naivasha. Surely, can I carry the ocean to Naivasha? Only God can do that,” Uhuru said.
In his defence, the Head of State said his administration chose Naivasha owing to the high voltage power and water already in the area.
“We chose Naivasha because of the geothermal energy that grants us cheap power, available raw materials and strategic location transport-wise. Ignore the empty talk of critics,” he added.
The Head of State said by linking the port of Mombasa and the Naivasha Industrial Park through the SGR, over Ksh.59 billion (500 million USD) would be generated for the economy every year.
“The containers from here in Naivasha would be transported through the SGR to Mombasa. Is that not employment we are creating for Coastal residents? All the communities living here don’t they have a right to have their livelihoods uplifted?” posed Kenyatta.
“Let us avoid politics of deceit. As we speak, in Mombasa we are constructing the Dongo Kundu Bypass so that we can have Special Economic Zones. We are also setting up the same Special Economic Zone in Kisumu, Nairobi and Murang’a so that even residents in those areas can also benefit.”
