Wanjigi challenges Govt to account for Eurobond before elections

Presidential Aspirant Jimmi Wanjigi has challenged the Government to account for the controversial 1 billion dollars Eurobond debt before exiting office.

Wanjigi who is seeking the Presidency on a Safina Party ticket says the Eurobond is one of the major triggers of the debt problem facing Kenyans.

He said Kenyans are paying dearly for the greed of a few people in the Government who went on a borrowing spree and the mismanaged the funds.

“The Eurobond theft is unlike any other, in the country’s history. Kenyans must demand to know from the Government what the money did. It’s not a favour the Government must account for the funds,” Wanjigi said.

He claims the government borrowed US dollars 2 billion through the Eurobond, but can only account for half of the borrowed amount saying efforts to have an explanation on the whereabouts of the balance have failed.

Wanjigi said the Eurobond is the single most expensive loan in the country and the economic stress Kenyans are going through is due to the heavy burden created by the loans the government has borrowed.

“We have borrowed money we never should have. We have engaged in projects that continue to burden Kenyans every day making them poorer and poorer. The SGR which cost us Ksh 380b from Mombasa to Nairobi yet we could have done a better job with only Ksh 55b from Mombasa to Malaba had this government adopted the initial plan we had,” Wanjigi said.

He said the initial proposal was to upgrade the old meter gauge railway from Mombasa to Malaba, but when the President Uhuru and his Deputy William Ruto took over, things changed. They went to the Chinese and came up with a whole new project that has cost the taxpayer billions yet it does not serve the intended purpose. Kenyans are paying for a project they never needed in the first place. The railway levy is in every aspect of taxation today whether you use the railway or not.” He said.

He said the cost of living has gone up because of the public debt, blasting the Finance CS Ukur Yatani’s 2022/2023 budgetary allocation saying it does not offer any hope to poor Kenyans.

Wanjigi said his government will rebuild the economy and increase productivity so that every Kenyan can enjoy a share of the national cake.

He said boosting productivity will create jobs for the millions of youth across the country and help breach the gap between the poor and the rich.

“We will give the youth and the people more and more control of their lives. It will be about the people and making them feel in control of their destiny. We will have a government that is accountable to the people.” He said.