•Aukot has also raised concern over the security of public facilities in relation to the increasing debts to the Chinese.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuro Aukot has called on the Kenyan government and the African continent to end their insatiable appetite for Chinese loans.
Addressing the press on Friday from his party’s headquarters in Nairobi, Aukot said the loans from the Chinese are like a trap that leads to modern day colonisation.
“This is a strategy by China to economically colonise these countries since a requirement in those loans remains that China must secretly sign skewed agreements with those governments”
This is a strategy by China to economically colonize these countries since a requirement in those loans remains that China must secretly sign skewed agreements with those governments #RejectChinaLoans
— #TeamPunguzaMizigo (@EAukot) May 10, 2019
Aukot has said the deals are always being signed in closed doors without any information to the public concerning the loans.
“These Chinese loans are always negotiated and concluded in Beijing. As is the practice in other jurisdictions, not even the agenda of the meetings are made public. It is all secretive.”
He said China’s lending model is skewed towards benefiting China only.
Aukot maintained China has been funding projects that are not economically viable, leaving the client country with a huge debt to pay.
Citing the SGR project as an example, Aukot said it was expensive and not economically viable and the government should have upgraded the old railway lines and opened the entire railway network in the country which would have benefited the locals.
Aukot also raised concern over the security of public facilities in relation to the increasing debts to the Chinese.
“Chinese may soon be taking over management of our one and only port in order to recover back the loan money. Chinese have already taken public assets in other countries as is the case in Zambia and Sri Lanka,” he said.
The Thirdway Alliance leader also said the Chinese contractors do not pay corporate taxes.
He said SGR project would have generated Sh80 billion in profits before tax to the Kenyan economy.
Aukot said the loans are meant to bankrupt African countries since the clients have to overtax basic commodities in order to meet its obligations.
“This is making the lives of ordinary Kenyans unbearable as the cost of living has been rising unabated. Kenyans can hardly now make ends meet due to heavy borrowing from China,” he said.
His remarks come at a time when Kenyan’s debt to the Chinese government stands at $9.8 billion, making it the third highest borrower in Africa after Angola and Ethiopia.