President William Ruto’s administration has borrowed Sh4.3 trillion, pushing Kenya’s public debt from Sh8.7 trillion to Sh13 trillion since taking office.
Since taking office, domestic debt alone has gone up by Sh3 trillion, from Sh4.4 trillion to Sh7.4 trillion
Almost every Kenyan now knows a relative, friend or former colleague who once lived comfortably, paid bills without begging and supported others, but has now been reduced to borrowing for food, rent and school fees.
Where exactly is this “investor confidence” Ruto keeps talking about when ordinary businesses are dying, incomes are collapsing and formerly stable families are becoming desperate?
The only people enjoying this economy are Ruto, his friends and those feeding from government deals. Everyone else is being told to celebrate figures that have no relationship with the suffering on the ground.
Ruto can read all the reports, charts and manufactured data he wants, but the real economy is on the ground, where businesses are closing, taxes are choking traders and families are struggling to survive.
His investor-confidence jaba cannot rhyme with empty shops, collapsing businesses, job losses and Kenyans whose incomes disappear before meeting basic needs.
You cannot govern through PowerPoint presentations when the country outside State House is suffocating.