Report: Public debt burden locks Kenyans out of health, education

Annet Nerima, Program Manager, Inclusion and Political Justice at Kenya Human Rights Commission, makes a presentation during the launch of the report in Nairobi.[Courtesy, Standard] Kenya's fast accumulation of debt and a bloated public wage bill are undermining the provision of essential social services and eroding the economic and social rights of Kenyans, according to a new report. The report, titled the Economics of Repression by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), shows that the government's heavy spending on debt repayments has resulted in paltry amounts being spent on essential services, such as health, education and water and sanitation. This has, in turn, seen Kenyans pay out of pocket for healthcare, while others say they cannot afford "illegal" fees imposed by public schools grappling with delayed capitation. A majority of Kenyans surveyed in developing the report connected high debt levels to the underfunding of critical services while dismissing the government's explanations that borrowing is aimed at expanding infrastructure. Instead, they said, high debt levels and resultant high debt servicing have led to exclusion. The report published yesterday shows that as debt service and public wage bill continue to grow at an astronomical rate, there is a corresponding drop in the money spent on critical sectors. Kenya's debt service to revenue ratio stood at 67 per cent in the year to June 2025, which meant that for every Sh100 that the country collected through taxes and other revenue, Sh67 was spent on repayment of debt interest and principal. This, KHRC said, has had the effect of crowding out spending crowds out spending on essential services like development projects, health and education. Debt servicing obligations are set to further rise as public debt hit Sh12.054 trillion as of September this year, rising significantly from Sh6.6 trillion in the financial year to June 2022. "Today, 68 per cent of all ordinary revenue goes into paying public debt and government salaries, leaving less than a third of the budget for health, education, food security, water, sanitation, housing, and social protection," said the lobby in the report. The report added that the underfunding of these critical sectors has been "compromising equality, dignity, and full enjoyment of constitutional rights. Moreover, key vulnerable groups that depend on the social protection of the state remain exposed and neglected." The report shows that as the government increases spending on debt servicing and a high wage bill, it has had to reduce spending on health, where spending has shrunk from an allocation of Sh113 billion in the 2021-22 financial year to Sh95.52 billion in the year to June 2025. It also reported that while the number of older persons in the cash transfer programme increased from 763,553 in the 2021-22 financial year to 1.25 million in 2024-25, total disbursements fell from Sh18 billion in 2022 to Sh15 billion in the period to June 2025. It is the case for orphans and vulnerable children, where beneficiary numbers rose to 443,972 children in 2025 from 293,665 in 2022. The money disbursed, however, dropped to Sh5 billion in the last financial year from Sh7 billion in 2022. "The fiscal crisis is felt in crowded classrooms and empty pharmacies. Patients are turned away from hospitals unless they show insurance cards. Many leave with prescriptions they cannot afford because public hospitals lack medicine," reads the report. "Schools delay learning or send students home due to capitation shortfalls. Youth speak of job losses as businesses suffocate under rising taxes. Widows in informal settlements say housing programmes exclude them entirely. Persons with disabilities report waiting years for funds that never arrive." The report was informed by a survey of residents of Nairobi. More than 72 per cent of the more than 1,000 respondents who responded to the survey questions said high public debt hinders investments in health services. Another 62 per cent said high public wages reduced the money available for education. The Nairobi residents surveyed for the report said when visiting health facilities, even in emergencies, they must show proof of Social Health Authority (SHA) membership, while also recalling programmes like NHIF and Linda Mama as having been more inclusive. And while they regard education as a sure way out of poverty for their children, they noted that it is increasingly getting out of reach for the poor, condemning children to "becoming street kids." "Respondents reported illegal levies, overcrowded classrooms and declining quality. Parents described struggling to keep their children in school while also covering food and rent," said KHRC. "The study found that people clearly linked these challenges to public debt and the wage bill. Many believed that funds meant for education are consumed by salaries or lost to corruption, leaving schools under-resourced. Parents noted that while the government borrows in the name of expanding access, the reality is exclusion." Kenya's debt stood at Sh12.054 trillion as of September, according to the latest data by the National Treasury on debt, growing 12.3 per cent in one year from Sh10.734 trillion in September 2024. Over the three years that the Kenya Kwanza administration has been in office, which had promised it would go easy on borrowing, debt has grown by 38.5 per cent from Sh8.701 trillion in September 2022. The KHRC report noted that while Kenya commands the largest national budget in the East African region, the country is still failing to deliver the essential human rights guaranteed under the Constitution. Economic growth has also not translated into benefits for many Kenyans. "The issue is not a lack of money but the persistent mismanagement of public resources," reads the report. "Kenya finds itself in a troubling paradox, where the economy appears to be expanding on paper, but most citizens see no improvement in their daily lives as the constitutional promise of economic and social rights remains out of reach for millions."

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