Let Kenya not issue another Euro bond
Let Kenya not issue another Euro bond
Treasury secretary Mr Henry Rotich has defended the government's decision to issue another Euro bond whose proceed will partly be used to repay a Sh 77.3 billion ($750 million) syndicated loan obtained in 2015.This has been necessitated by international investors who want their debts repaid. The rapid rise in Kenya's public debt to more than Sh 4.4 trillion at a time when the taxman is struggling to meet his target has raised fears over sustainability of the loans. Mr Henry Rotich, if you could be following Auditor general Mr Edward Ouko's reports,you will recover back a lot of money for the treasury. Especially the unplanned trips abroad and bonding sessions undertaken by counties. He also said that there are a lot of unaccounted for monies in the counties. Some counties have not exhausted the funds allocated to them. Another is 100 million given to bungoma MCA to attend a political meeting in Nairobi. This must be recovered or paid back by the MCA's. Another source of Kenya's revenue is oil in Turkana. Kenya discovered oil in 2012 and has since followed it up with a string of other finds putting the country on the path to be coming a producer.We also own titanium which is also mined in Kwale county. Let this oil and titanium which are Kenya's raw material help pay Kenya's debts. For Mr Rotich to realize his target, let him not rush for the Euro bond. Public finance management and governance system is designed to be participatory. By law budget and economic forum is designed to coordinate and collect views from the public for balanced management. Such a forum can bridge the gap between citizens and government. Safaricom is declaring billions every year,why doesn't treasury borrow from them as this will be like in-house borrowing which can be settled amicably.
By
Veronica Onjoro
Mombasa
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