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{
    "id": 1393797,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1393797/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 227,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Sifuna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13599,
        "legal_name": "Sifuna Edwin Watenya",
        "slug": "sifuna-edwin-watenya"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. I was going through the very glossy Kenya Kwanza Coalition 2022 manifesto. One of the striking things that one gets from the very initial pages of that manifesto is the Kenya Kwanza Political Coalition at that particular moment in time had properly diagnosed the problem with Kenya's debt. At least that is what they told us. There is a paragraph that I want to borrow there; they said at the time of campaigns the common adage that: “When you are in a hole, you should stop digging.” I have lifted word for word from the glossy Kenya Kwanza Manifesto for the last election. So, the expectation in public pronouncements that followed the launch of that manifesto was that we were going to see a stop in the borrowing that had characterised the last regime. This is because that was the reason why we were in the hole that they said we were in. If you go to Pages 6 and 7 of the report of the Standing Committee on Finance and Budget, they will tell you that in June 2023, the debt was at Kshs10.2 trillion. By February 2024, which is less than eight months later, we were at Kshs11.2 trillion. At that rate, in eight months, our debt had ballooned by Kshs1 trillion shillings. I have had the Senate Majority Leader also wax lyrical on the magic that was worked with the refinancing of Eurobond. If you go to page 9 of the report of this committee, you will see a reference there to the partial buyback of the Eurobond. However, what the Committee does not tell you is that, we as a country, in that buyback offered one of the highest interest rates, higher than any other country has done in Africa, at 10.37 per cent for that Eurobond for us to attract investors. If you want comparisons, Cote d'Ivoire, in January of this year, issued a Eurobond, and their interest rate was 8.5 per cent. Benin did the same in February, at 7.5 per cent. We have kicked the can down the road so that in six years, we will be paying investors the highest rate by any African state on a Eurobond. So, it is not something to sing about because the hole that we were told we were in that this current regime promised to stop digging further is getting deeper and deeper. Madam Temporary Speaker, you will also see on page 8 of the report that the Committee acknowledges that Kenya's public debt although remaining sustainable, still has a high risk of debt distress which tells you that we should not be celebrating anything as it is right now because we are still under great risk of debt distress. Let me conclude by making a few observations on some of the stakeholder submissions. Unfortunately, let me note that some of these submissions by key stakeholders to the committee did not find their way into the recommendations by the committee. I do not understand why. Luckily, for me, I am seated next to one of the The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}