ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi has called for President Uhuru Kenyatta’s intervention to deal with Kenya’s burgeoning debt. Concerns have been raised by Kenyans about the ever increasing foreign debt in recent months, with eyes shifted to China, with a report indicating that Kenya is China’s third highest debtor in Africa in the period between 2000 and 2017. Speaking at the burial service of the late Mzee Peter Musyoka Mairu, Mudavadi said the President should solve the dilemma to keep off creditors from taking advantage of the situation.
Mudavadi said the Head of State has the know how given that he served in the Finance docket, “You were the Finance Minister and now you are the President, so help us. I saw in the program that Mzee Mairu used to do business and even bought a bus, but when it got spoilt the creditors were tracking him and he went into hiding. As Kenyans we don’t want to hide,” he said.
On his part, President Kenyatta agreed that borrowing must be cautious, and the money shouldn’t be used to pay salaries, but he said the borrowing can’t be halted because the needs of Kenyans must be met. “We must borrow in a manner we are sure we can service the debt we incur,” he said, adding that the country’s infrastructural development will lead to economic development which will alleviate the need for debts. “We must be cautious and prudent that we are not borrowing to consume but we are borrowing to grow, and that must continue if we are to meet the infrastructure deficit this country has…” he said.