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Raila said the worsening economic situation has been manufactured in the State House in the last eight or so months.
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He said the government’s own data indicate that contrary to what Ruto promised and what he is saying, borrowing has gone up.
Image: RAILA ODINGA/TWITTER
Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga has refuted claims that President William Ruto found empty coffers at the National Treasury when he ascended to power.
Raila spoke on Thursday in Nairobi. The Azimio leaders had gathered to discuss the proposed Finance Bill 2023.
He termed it as an official lie that Kenya Kwanza inherited a broke country.
"The truth is, the cash crunch has been caused by economic mismanagement, wasteful spending, corruption and hiring of incompetent personnel," Raila said.
The former Prime Minister said the worsening economic situation has been manufactured in the State House in the last eight or so months.
He said the government’s own data indicate that contrary to what Ruto promised and what he is saying, borrowing has gone up.
Raila said when Ruto took over power, Kenya’s total debt was Sh8.701 trillion.
Of this, Sh4.33 trillion was external debt while Sh4.366 was domestic debt.
" As of March 2023, six months after Ruto took over, Kenya’s debt rose from Sh8.701 trillion to Sh9.390 trillion," Raila said.
He said the debt rose by Sh689 billion in six months under the Ruto regime.
He noted that the external debt, which stood at Sh4.33 trillion in September 2022, rose to Sh4.851 trillion in March 2023.
"Additionally, domestic debt rose from Sh4.366 trillion in September 2022 to Sh4.539 in March 2023."
"We can go further back to the year 2021. Between September 2021 and March 2022, our debt rose by Sh405 billion from Sh7.96 trillion to Sh8.401 trillion," he said.
External debt was Sh4.209 trillion while domestic debt stood at Sh4.192 trillion.
Raila noted that this was the time the country was struggling with the impacts of Covid-19 including the implementation of subsidies and the emerging war in Ukraine.
He said Kenya's total debt was still lower than what Ruto has incurred in six months.
"Kenya Kwanza has borrowed more than any other regime," Raila said.
He said the current regime has removed subsidies, and raised taxes but the cash crunch has continued.
Raila said Kenya Kwanza cannot pay salaries, disburse money to schools, counties, to the elderly and cannot finance the NHIF. And nearly all major infrastructure projects have stalled.
"Where is the money going to? It is being stolen and being spent on the wrong priorities to massage Ruto’s ego," Raila said.