Kenya Kwanza should tackle the debt problem head-on

President William Ruto during the launch of the 2023 tax report. [File, Standard]

According to Article 132 (1)(C) of the Constitution, the President is required to address the nation once a year. This is the State of the Nation address. President William Ruto delivered his first such address last week. An ineluctable aspect of his address was the issue of public debt.

After months of denial by a section of the political elite, it is now widely acknowledged that public debt, inherited from the Jubilee administration, is directly responsible for present hardships. That more than 70 per cent of tax revenues have gone towards debt service this year proves just how dire the situation is. And in acknowledging this, the President touched on the aspect of Article 132 that interrogates “the progress made in fulfilling the international obligations of the Republic.”

Public debt service is an obligation of the Republic. In fact, it is the first charge on the Consolidated Fund. Article 214(2) defines public debt as, “all financial obligations attendant to loans raised or guaranteed and securities issued or guaranteed by the national government.” Paying sovereign debt is therefore not a binary choice. The country cannot wriggle out of it or defer it for future generations to shoulder.

Yet it is true that the Jubilee administration ratcheted up more public debt than was expedient for the nation. It distinguished itself in the pursuit of short-term populism, politically self-serving gain and acts of vengeance against perceived detractors. But it is precisely for those reasons that the Kenya Kwanza (KK) administration is in office; to undo the egregious damage visited on the country by its predecessors. The KK administration has an obligation to live up to a higher moral standard than its predecessors. That is why it was elected.

Blame games

Which is why it is refreshing that the preamble of the President’s address included a mea culpa. There was an acknowledgement of the onerous responsibility thrust on the President to resolve the country’s debt issue. Now that the country is on the same page regarding the genesis of the debt challenge, there should be no more blame games directed at past administrations. The buck stops with the President.

Conversely, efforts to resolve Kenya’s debt burden should be appreciated by all. Populism will not fix this country. Interventions like petroleum and other consumption subsidies have proved to be counterproductive. This is not the time to call for their return. Additionally, the Finance Act 2023 should be seen for what it is; an attempt to collect enough revenue to service public debt. It is not, as some have attempted to pass it, an act of insensitivity on a government hellbent on inflicting pain on its citizenry.

That brings us to influential groups like clergymen who should be at the forefront of national unity. Not when they demonstrate a lack of depth in their grasp of the issues of the day. Their iffy proposals on tax reliefs without credible alternatives reveal a lack of nous. 

No doubt the President has good intentions and the mettle to make hard, beneficial decisions. His Achilles heel remains his communication. It continues to alienate more than it persuades.

Mr Khafafa is a public policy analyst