New debt chief must urgently get Kenya out of the borrowing spree

The latest revelations that Kenya is scheduled to repay debts amounting to Sh1.4 trillion between January and December 2019 are chilling and set to dampen any growth trajectory. Faced with a growing debt load, which has increased by nearly a trillion shilling in one year, President Uhuru Kenyatta has aggressively instituted austerity measures negatively impacting on the implementation of 545 major projects.

Counties too, have been hit hard by a shortage of development resources. In the first three months of the current financial year ending June, more than half of the 47 counties did not put a single cent into development with the chairman of Council of Governors insisting that the Treasury had closed the cash for capital spending in the counties. Even if the Treasury is going to refinance - borrow to repay - much of the maturing debt, Kenyans need to know how their country found itself in a debt trap that is now threatening economic growth.