By Koome Mworia
Kenya is a great nation, the largest economy in East and Central Africa. One might wonder, why Kenya? We are not mineral rich as any of our neighbours. Mineral wise we wouldn`t rank well for sure, but there we are. At the top! Kenya`s greatest resource is its population. A determined working class from whose sweat Kenya is what it is. One would assume then the efforts taken to produce the wealth matches the efficiency in government spending.
There are many phrases coined to give a clue on how to get wealthy. It all narrows down to saving and investing as much as one could. There is no other realistic way around this. For a nation seeking growth, expenditure on development ought to carry the day. In Kenya, 60% of its budget goes to recurrent expenditure such as salaries, allowances and administrative costs leaving little for development. In the 2023/24 budget, only 20% was allocated to development projects.
In any money model, costs must be kept low to maximize on the margins. At the state level, modesty overstretches the power of the shilling in government coffers. There is an excessive wage Bill and Public Sector Bloat. The public wage bill remains unsustainably high, over KSh.1 trillion annually. This is driven by Ghost Workers, unjustified allowances, excessive travel perks and overstaffing government parastatals.
It is in our belief that one good deed warrants another. When citizens pay taxes dutifully, the government should be as clean as a whistle. The Auditor-General reports consistently reveal misuse of funds, irregular procurements and unaccounted expenditures. There have been scandals like NHIF and NSSF fraud, COVID-19 fund theft of KSh.7.8 billion and the Eurobond scandal of KSh.250 billion. In Nairobi County, KSh.5 billion was lost under Mike Sonko. Tenders are inflated 3-5 times the regional benchmarks then often abandoned.
There is no worse slavery than economic slavery, and debt is just that! Kenya`s public debt stands over KSh.11 trillion nearing 70% of GDP. The debt cannot be accounted for. This has been abetted by weak oversight bodies.
