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{
    "id": 900077,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/900077/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 413,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Since we are part of that process, there would be no public debt if we prudently budget the monies that we have especially by weighing with the revenues. The issue of debts, from where I sit, is actually not a bad thing. Possibly, I side with Treasury in their back and forth with the Central Bank that even if we had 60 per cent of the GDP that is debt, we are still in green, not red. We are still doing fairly well. The elephant in the room when we talk about public debt is corruption. Do we actually see value for money when we borrow to do this and that project? Sometimes, I sit with Government people and especially the Executive Arm to see the kind of projects the Government is doing, for example, in my County of Murang’a. You will hear a lot of billions. This agency was guaranteed a loan by the Government of Kenya or there is a Kshs4 billion project. If there is a water project and there is no water flowing, then to the Kenyan people, we are paying for a debt that we are not enjoying utility for. If we zero in on corruption, we will actually never question the Treasury for borrowing more. We have many countries that never question themselves for borrowing a lot. They include Japan, which is at 242 per cent of ration of debt to GDP. Even the UK - our colonisers - is beyond double because they are at about 104 per cent debt to GDP ratio. The US - the super power - is over 110 per cent debt to GDP ratio. The elephant in the room is corruption where we borrow and we do not see where the money goes."
}