Kenya’s President William Ruto Dismisses Plans To Aquire Loans To Pay Civil Servants As Union Groups Threaten To Go On strike Over Unpaid Salaries
Kenya’s President, William Ruto, announced that the country will not acquire loans to pay civil servants, even as union groups threatened to go on strike due to unpaid March salaries.
According to Ruto, the salary delays are due to the country’s substantial public debt, with some loans becoming due this month.
He emphasized that taxes collected by the revenue authority would be utilized to pay the salaries. However, at least two worker umbrella bodies have warned of a strike this week if the salaries are not paid.
Kenya’s chief economic adviser, David Ndii, speaking to the local media, assured that the salaries would be paid by the end of the month. The government has been urged to reduce the wastage of public funds.
“We are not insolvent. We can finance repayments. It is a significant sacrifice but we are actually able to pay,” Ndii told Citizen TV late on Monday.
He said default was a “very bad idea” since it would force the government to “spend the next three to four years in very protracted debt restructuring negotiations”.
Currently, Kenya’s public debt accounts for 65% of the national revenue, with over $420 million needed each month to pay the salaries and pensions of civil servants.
This development comes after the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund separately warned of a new debt crisis in sub-Saharan Africa, with numerous countries at a high risk of debt distress.
President William Ruto won a hotly contested election last August, pledging to lift millions out of poverty, but he is facing challenges from the high cost of living and growing debt repayments.
This led to protests organised by veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga for two weeks in March.
The government was failing in one of its most basic obligations by failing to pay its workers, said Opiyo Wandayi, the leader of the opposition in the national assembly.
“Civil servants and MPs have gone to Easter without salaries,” he said in a statement issued during the weekend.
