Numbers Don’t Lie But Politicians Do!

 

 

 Image: courtesy

 

What am about to share with you hear is not only shocking but utterly serious!

It is the kind of thing that brought Zimbabwe’s economy to its knees literally!

Therefore, let me get right to it.

For many months now, we’ve been treated to a lot of pandemonium by the political class about things that don’t really matter. Basically hot air!

The sad part though is that we’re buying into that lie!

This hullabaloo about 2022 elections, referendum, BBI, and many other noisy cymbals are things we must reject!  

Amidst the noise, the economy of our country Kenya is at the brink of collapse due to constant plunder and unsustainable public debt!

Your ordinary politician will not dare talk about what’s important and has since withdrawn from his/ her previous vigour to fight for your welfare.

His only concern is his family. This is clearly seen in the implication of public officers and their families in the plunder of public resources!

But here's what’s important:

Kenya’s current public debt has exceeded Sh6 trillion; basically that’s our national budget for three years in a row!

Secondly, the taxman KRA only collects about Sh1.58trillion as per the last revenue report 2018/2019. 

Third and most importantly, Kenya spends half of its annual revenue collection to service a bloated wage bill of about Sh800 billion.

Are you still with me?

These figures are mind-numbing and do not make economic sense even to a lay man!

There’s simply no room for development expenditure without borrowing let alone to service public debt!

According to Corruption Tracker an archive of corruption stories in Africa, if you auto sum all the reported stolen/lost/misused/missing amounts since early 2000s, the total amount stands at SH8.1 trillion! 

That is an amount that would have been sufficient to clear public debt and leave us with some change!

It would be interesting to note that the owners of this website were arrested a few days after the site went public despite most of the information on the site being based on the auditor general’s report and other media sources.

Our appetite for theft is almost matched by our craving for debt! However, the two put together have catastrophic effects on our economy that will be felt for a long time to come!

It should be noted that this situation of being strapped in debt is what is fuelling the Neo-colonial agenda of Eastern powers like China.

Sri Lanka is a case in point where the Chinese government took over the running of one of its ports for 99 years due to their inability to service the concessional loan granted to build the Hambantota port.

In addition, other experts have been warning of Kenya’s increasing debt burden.

Mr. Mohamed Wehliye, a risk management professional and an Advisor to Saudi Arabia Monetary Authority (SAMA), has on several occasions cautioned the Kenyan government of the risk of spiraling into a debt crisis!

These warnings come in the face of increased debt-to-GDP ratio which currently stands at 62.1% as at the end of 2019. 

Simply put, the debt-to-GDP ratio is the percentage of government debt to the value of goods and services produced in a particular period.

In other words, if Kenya were an individual earning Sh100,000 per month, Sh62,100 would be debt. 

This leaves little room for sustaining oneself let alone repaying the debt!

A low debt-to-GDP ratio points to an economy that produces and sells goods and services enough to pay back debts without incurring more debt.

Furthermore, no less than the World Bank has warned Kenya against exceeding a manageable debt ceiling. 

Contrary to these warnings, Kenya’s parliament went on to change the law to increase the debt ceiling to Ksh9 trillion!  This gave room for Treasury to borrow more!

The most important question is; does Treasury have a plan on how to get Kenya out of debt? 

Plus, does the CBK through its governor advise the government on the risks of over-borrowing?

We must realize that depending on foreign debt to meet our national budget is an act of voluntary slavery that is not only shameful but unsustainable.

The political class we have elected to champion for our welfare have long forgotten their duty and are busy drinking wine at the precipice of a sinking economy.

They are working daily on plans to spend more money than to create opportunities for the growth of the economy.

As a country, we need to pause for a moment to ponder about what’s really important.

The novel Coronavirus has battered the economy leading to business closures, job losses and financial struggle for many.

This is not the time to be talking to us about hopeless things like referendum. This is the time to seek solutions on how to get the economy running again.

But who among those entrusted with public office will champion such a cause? It is just not politically expedient!

The Kenyan politician at best is a Neo-colonialist in nature and a self-absorbed visceral. 

His agenda is to ride on the unfortunate plight of the voter to keep them oppressed forever while promising a better future every new term which never comes.

A referendum is not a solution to Kenya’s woes right now. We are facing a leadership crisis of humongous proportions.

First and foremost, there must be a conclusive resolve to deal with the plunder of public coffers.

A depressed economy post-corona and a continuous symphony about looting are a bad and sad combination.

We have normalized and accepted thievery as part of our society’s moral fabric by glorifying thieves and rolling out the red carpet for them whenever they appear in churches and other public places.

And this is part of the dichotomy of our problem as a people!

That the poor and jobless youth out there have become so desperate that the corrupt who give them handouts out of the very moneys they have stolen have become gods.

How then can we look the other side and speak against the evil they have done when we have benefited from their pompous display of stolen wealth?  

Regardless, Kenya needs a dramatic shift from this normalization of fraud!  Otherwise we are headed for a crisis with our eyes wide open.

It’s time for a nation to stand up for what is right. It’s time we showed courage and spoke against this blatant theft of our future.

When the sun finally sets on our lives and it’s time to depart from the scene, what shall be said of us? 

What shall be our legacy? What shall we bequeath to our children and theirs after them?

At this very moment I am afraid history might judge us pretty harshly as a nation that gave birth and ate its own children.

A people steeped in decadence and vain glory at the altar of good governance and visionary leadership.

We must not let this evil of looting and maleficence continue any longer!

If it was ever upon the political class to offer a solution Kenya would be in a very different place economically from 2002 when the Moi regime was dethroned!

Therefore, to continue to believe in a lie that another election, referendum or BBI will change things for the better is a game of fools.

We are being taken round and round in circles by the very people who have been in the game for ages.

All that happened before and will continue to happen is shifting of goal posts and changing the rules of the game.

And yet this could be an opportune moment for a reawakening of our social-political psyche.

We must not lose this opportunity.

Enough is never enough until we take a stand.

We must demand better from public officers. We must ask for accountability.

We must deal ruthlessly with the economic plunderers and saboteurs.

We must restore our nation on the path to progress.

Numbers don’t lie, it’s politician who do! 

 

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