Kenyans are watching use of IMF cash

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has finally approved a $739 million (Sh78.4 billion) loan to Kenya to address the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a week dominated by the lockdown of Eastleigh and Mombasa’s Old Town over the rising Covid-19 infection numbers, the IMF has given the government a leg up to come through for those impacted by the loss of incomes.

We cannot wait for the president to come on our television screens with a reassuring speech on economic relief — and a new shirt.

While we are aware that this IMF bailout is certainly a loan that we are expected to pay back with a lump in our throat, we know there are many things the Fund would have wished to do with this money, but they chose to spare some for us, even when we have had difficulty settling our debts before.

We give the IMF an ‘A’ for altruism — for resisting the urge to behave like other shylocks who are evicting jobless tenants and auctioning their rusty saucepans during these difficult times.

They had the option of sending us an arrogant letter ordering us to pay up our arrears or watch our children swallow saliva as their counterparts in rich countries eat meat.

One day when Kenya joins the international rich list, we will remember our development partners who came through for us when we needed them the most, and those who watched us through the keyhole expecting us to die so that they could inherit our global coffee, tea and flower markets.

Since our government sent that proposal to IMF asking for financial assistance, Kenyans have been crossing their fingers for this application to go through, because our government doesn’t have a good reputation for repaying international loans — and local suppliers.

When the news finally came through that the IMF had softened their hearts and listened to our prayers, there was a renewed sense of excitement across the country because of the fact that the IMF still has faith in our government’s ability to repay a loan is a good sign that Kenyans can also begin borrowing from other local lenders without being reminded of the other soft loans they have defaulted on since Jubilee came to power.

We thank the IMF for giving Kenyans the confidence to reinstall more mobile loan apps on their phones, to begin a new customer experience.

We hope that these mobile money companies will borrow a leaf from the IMF to reopen the taps of cash they had closed since the coronavirus visited us two months ago because, if local lending companies aspire to be big money lenders someday, then this is the best time for Kenyans to see them behave like one.

Let them resist the urge to send debt collectors our way, because the little we have is not enough to repay their debts, and if we die from exhaustion while running away from auctioneers, there will be no one remaining to service those loans.

While Kenyans send their good vibes to our international friends for looking at us with soft eyes, this is the time to remind the government that they have been presented with a golden opportunity to prove Kenyans wrong: that they can actually use donor money well.

This is not the time for government bureaucrats to hold a Zoom conference to discuss the scramble and partition of public money.

This is relief money, meant to cushion suffering Kenyans against the ravages of Covid-19. The worst you can do with this money is to buy drinking water when you feel thirsty while visiting Kenyans to distribute food and monitor cash relief.

The best you can do with this money is to account for it to the last red cent.

The IMF has made it clear that this money is not for buying big cars for big people in big government jobs.

This money is for the dirt poor, those who last saw a balanced diet when the Jubilee Party was still intact, and Building Bridges was a terminology only used in civil engineering forums.

We expect that night guard who was sent on unpaid leave two months ago to smell the scent of this new money.

If the street hawker who is now back in the slums with hungry mouths to feed doesn’t confirm receipt of this government largesse, then Kenyans will be left to conclude that this government only loves them when they are required to fill the stadium on national days.

We will watch this spending the way police helicopters have been hovering over curfew breakers.

Anyone intending to drink this money should do so knowing that the president already promised of dire consequences — and a visit to the prisons tailor.