Should Kenya borrow Sh300b to build new Nairobi-Mombasa road? : The Standard

Aloyce Barasa If the US government intends to help us to build the expressway we should grab the opportunity. However, it should help us construct the road without giving us conditions. There have been many projects the US has funded in Kenya directly through government or other organisations like USAid. If the US is serious about helping Kenyans, it should do so without issuing sanctions in regard to what the government is doing. Governments change and every new administration comes with its own strategies. Kenya’s debt has escalated, but the current way of governance could change and come up with new ways of managing debts. Kenya is not the first country to acquire loans, and it has good intentions while borrowing. The said road, for instance, was meant to ease transport, and that is good for Kenya. What should happen is that the US should keep tabs on what is happening during construction to ensure prudent use of funds.

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China will take possession of their own funded projects for a specific period of time until it recovers its money before handing over to the host government. Why can’t the US do the same if it doubts our ability to repay debts? Going by the relationship between the two countries, we expect the US to help us fight corruption so as to ensure such projects are properly accounted for. Mr Barasa is a literature and English teacher Innocent Kefe

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We should not borrow Sh300 billion from the US to build the planned expressway because our public debt is way high and more loans would only oppress the taxpayers. Currently our debt stands at Sh5.9 trillion, more than three times our budget, so if the US goes ahead to fund the project, we will have a lot of pressure in terms of public debt and when that happens, the government will move to increase taxes on basic commodities so as to raise more revenue to settle debts.

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Once the prices of basic commodities are raised, it will be akin to moving two steps forward and then three steps backwards. We will have an unhappy population silently suffering a bad economy and hiked prices. We have been listed among top African countries with high public debts and honestly, we cannot afford to add more debts to what we already have accumulated.  Kenya is a Third World country and we are not in a position to fund all our pipeline projects, meaning we will need these loans, but let us be guided by restrictions on how they are managed. This narrows down to corruption. There is little effort put in place to fight corruption. Our country's borrowing behaviour should be guided such that there are clear restrictions on how, when, and how much we should borrow, and for what purpose. Mr Kefe is a communication consultant.

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Related Topics

Nairobi ExpresswaySGRChina loansLoansUSAID