Cost of hustling: How revised service fee squeeze Kenyans from birth to death

Kenyans seeking passports wait in long queues at the immigration department. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

They are in debt even before they have a name. Each of the more than 5,000 babies born across Kenya yesterday owes more than Sh200,000, courtesy of the country's public debt that recently hit Sh11 trillion.

In a few years, they will join their compatriots in paying off this collective debt through aggressive taxes. Their parents, equally in debt, have the immediate burden of securing them a birth certificate.