Over-borrowing by the government from foreign countries has made lives of the Kenyans very difficult, frustrating and unbearable, Lurambi MP Titus Khamala said on Saturday.
He said foreign debts have caused a hike in the taxes which affects the common mwananchi directly, causing prices of basic commodities to go up and hence a rise in the cost of living.
The legislator spoke at a funeral in Bukura, Lurambi constituency in Kakamega county.
Khamala said the government’s proposed 1.5 per cent deduction from employees’ salary towards the Housing Fund was a scam to blindfold Kenyans "but the real intention of this levy is to repay some of these foreign loans".
“The government is trying to raise money to pay the foreign debt and the greatest mistake the government is making is to give guarantees of our public installations as collateral. These installations shall be taken over by our lenders and soon we shall have no country,” Khamala said.
“One of our main concerns is the standard gauge railway loan from China and we have been saying all the time that we are over-borrowing. The more we do that we are hiking taxes for the common mwananchi and that is why we see even levies going up.”
Khamala urged the government to ensure that the loans borrowed are benefitting all Kenyans. The MP said while borrowing for the extension of the SGR, the state should not just think about Kisumu as the destination but also the Western region as the old railway ends in Butere, Kakamega county.
“If the former Prime Minister is honest and if he values our support as Mulembe nation, the SGR should not end up in Kisumu, but it must come all the way to Butere. If it ends in Kisumu then we will know that the Luhya nation is not of any value to him and then in the years to come we shall have to rethink our position.”
The legislator added, "We are not going to keep paying Chinese loans on projects that do not benefit us."
(Edited by R.Wamochie)
