Ruto Promises To End Kenya’s Borrowing Spree While Addressing Debt Crisis

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul, 27 – “We should stop this borrowing spree,” said Deputy President and United Democratic Alliance (UDA) presidential candidate William Ruto during the presidential debate 2022.

Ruto said that addressing and resolving the debt crisis in the country would be his first priority if elected into office.

Kenya’s national debt stands at Sh8.4 trillion.

Ruto now says that his government will put the brakes on borrowing while prioritizing government projects that will benefit the people. This he says will be accomplished by raising the country’s revenue.

“Unbudgeted projects are in the region of Sh100 billion and that is what is spiraling our budget,” he said. 

The Jubilee government borrowed Sh2.2 trillion during its first term and  Sh4.2 trillion in the second term.

 “Our debt today is a challenge; we need to deal with it. We are not sitting pretty we are living beyond our means. There is room to raise additional funding and revenue for us to manage our debt without necessarily going to say we are going to negotiate our debt,” said Ruto.

He faulted his boss for the current ‘mess’ saying that he was not involved in his administration during his second term amid the handshake with Raila Odinga.

The DP alleged that several government projects did not have the requisite paperwork thus making it difficult to track spending on them.

80 per cent of the country’s debt is owed to local banks according to Ruto thus making it difficult for Kenyans to obtain credit.

As part of his pledges, he further said that he would make certain government contracts public.