Kenya: Omtatah Claims Kenya Has Overpaid Its Debt By Sh1 Trillion

(file photo).

Nairobi — Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah now claims that Kenya had paid off all its debts and that the government had even made an additional payment of Sh1 trillion.

Speaking to Spice FM on Wednesday, Omtatah said the government records show that Kenya has been making payments to its lenders but has failed to update its debt portfolio over time.

Omtatah said money has been leaving the National Treasury's exchequer but is not being used to pay off the debt but is instead being inherited by certain individuals.

"If you look at the figures, Kenya has overpaid its debt by more than sh1trillion, we do not owe anybody anything," he said, "If you look at the figures on what we have legitimately borrowed and what the government has been paying over the years when you do a balance sheet you find that we have overpaid the debt."

He continued by saying that "When we pay, they do not subtract from what has been borrowed. I think a large proportion of it is just being pocketed so what they are trying to do is to tamper around with the few interests so that you look like you have defaulted."

The activist further asserted that the Office of the Auditor General has been making mistakes by failing to thoroughly review the balance sheets.

Omtatah alleges that the money is being stolen during the revenue allocation stage, rather than being stolen through expenditure when the AG neglects to double-check the funds that are distributed from the Treasury to the beneficiary.

"They (AG) audit government books like stand-alone they do not crosscheck. When they go to audit the Treasury, Treasury simply says Ksh.10 left the consolidated fund, but they do not go to check whether whatever has been declared has been received on the other end," he said.

"This is where you and I come in where we say that this Auditor General is just a mechanical thing, you and me who pay the taxes can we follow [through] and say that this Sh10 that left Treasury [did it go] to where it was intended to go?"

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