Nairobi — Treasury Cabinet Secretary nominee John Mbadi has promised to publicize the debt portfolio in the country annually through publication of the country's debt records to uphold transparency.
Appearing before the National Assembly appointments committee, Mbadi disapproved the current modus operandi of the government where taxpayers are left in the dark on the debt status despite being the bearers of the ballooning national debt which now stands at 10.5 trillion.
"If Kenyans owe people money, why can't they know who they owe, how much they owe them and the level of interest for each loan?If you listen to the discussion around debt, Kenyans seem to be asking what our actual level of debt is. Is it really Ksh.10.5 trillion? The answer could be Yes, but Kenyans want proof and evidence," he said.
He was responding to Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss, who tasked him to explain how he will tame the debt management which had scaled to 75 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is currently unsustainable.
Mbadi faulted successive regimes since 2014 who focused on borrowing for general purposes which include the Eurobond instead of borrowing focused on project which will have value in terms of accelerating revenue collection.
"What this means is that debt comes to Kenya without going to specific projects. How then will we pay that loan if it does not fund value adding projects or investments in public assets?" he posed.
"We must work on linking projects to loans. We cannot borrow loans for general budgetary support. From 2014, we shifted our borrowing strategy from specific donor-funding projects to general support," Mbadi added.
The Former ODM Chairman advocated for a debt register to be published annually to allow the citizenry access information on debt management in the country and enhance accountability.
"One of the things that we need to do is to make a debt register a statutory document which should be published every year like we publish all the other documents," he stated.
"It is not the government that owes money to China, the World Bank or the IMF, it is Kenyan taxpayers, and you cannot owe money to someone without knowing how much you owe them." he said.
At the same time, he opposed the raising of taxes and instead promised a ruthless transformation of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) as solution to increasing revenue in the country.
Mbadi emphasized transformation at KRA will improve the current tax collection from 14 percent to 18percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) so as to reduce the fiscal deficit.
The house team chaired by Speaker Moses Wetang'ula, brought him to task to explain how the government will finance its budget since he has previously opposed plans to increase taxes as a means to raise revenue.
"I don't think introducing new taxes will be the solution. KRA just needs reengineering because we are losing a lot in custom duty because of smuggling and counterfeits that leads to leakages," he told MPs.
The National Treasury and Economic Planning nominee promised his first undertaking will be initiating plans to revamp KRA saying it's the weak link in revenue raising strategies in the country.
"We should provide a proper evaluation of KRA. My first meeting will be about how to reform KRA because, without them, we will not achieve much," he pledged.
The Public Accounts Committee Chairman advocated for Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) capacity building to improve collection through adopting previous strategies like recruiting tax experts through trainee programs.
Despite being an opposition member and previously critical of President William Ruto's tax strategies, Mbadi has pledged to drive change following his nomination to the cabinet by President Ruto.
"KRA had a good policy of graduates of tax experts who are properly trained. My first task is to reform the institution because the was at time we were collecting 18 percent but now we are doing 14 percent," he averred.
Mbadi pushed for automation of systems with the tax collection system to curb tax leakages and corruption in the revenue collection system.
"We must make sure that we automate it and automate it properly. Sometimes we pretend to be using automation yet we use outdated systems, systems that are aiding the leakage of revenue instead of helping," he said.
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KRA fell short of its ambitious tax collection targets for the 2023/2024 fiscal year despite an 11.1 per cent increase in overall revenue to Sh2.407 trillion.
KRA targeted to collect Sh2.768 trillion by the end of the financial year 2023/2024. It was reviewed downward to Sh2.5 trillion, meaning KRA missed the two targets.
The taxman failed to reach its target, leaving policymakers and industry stakeholders concerned about the underlying factors driving this under-performance.
The struggle to meet revenue targets comes at a critical juncture, as Kenya navigates a period of economic uncertainty marked by soaring inflation, currency depreciation, and weakening consumer demand.
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