The biggest scam in the country right now is the rate at which people are borrowing and soliciting for funds. Someone can easily conclude that everyone is under debt. But it is true we are all under pressure to pay the numerous loans acquired by our government.
The painful thing is that even the unborn have a debt to pay. I tell you this is so heavy for mwananchi to carry, but do we have an option?
What angers most Kenyans is the fact that we borrow a lot but the same money ends up in people’s pockets rather than serving its intended duty.
But we have a sigh of relief.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has directed all government ministries, departments, agencies (MDAs) and county governments to refrain from engaging in negotiations for external borrowing without the approval of his office.
Mr Rotich said that the mandate of mobilising external resources, which include loans and grants, is vested in the National Treasury as provided for in the constitution, the Public Finance Management (PFM) Act and the Kenya External Resources Policy of 2014.
“In view of the above, we therefore direct all MDAs and county governments to strictly adhere before seeking external financial support,” Mr Rotich says in the circular that has been copied to all Cabinet secretaries and county governors.
The memo has also been circulated to principal secretaries, the accounting officers in ministries and all CEOs of state corporations.
This comes as it emerged that county governors have been trying to procure loans in the course of their numerous trips in foreign countries to fund election campaign projects without involving the Treasury.
But even as the county governments argue that the resources they get from the national governments are not enough, the MDAs have also sidestepped the Treasury in their pursuit for foreign funding, a move that Mr Rotich says must be contained.
The financial risks include the possibility of the national government paying commitment fees and other charges on loan amounts incurred due to delays in commencement of project implementation.
To mitigate the government against any potential financial risk, Mr Rotich said that the ministry has developed a checklist of mandatory requirements that MDAs and counties must fulfill before seeking external financial support.
DO YOU THINK THIS MOVE WILL HELP REDUCE THE DEBT?