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."