Kenya begins national debt audit, finance minister says

Kenya’s auditor general has started to examine the country’s debt to ascertain the amounts owed to various creditors, Finance Minister John Mbadi told Reuters on Monday.

The East African nation’s debt stands at 10.5 trillion shillings (US$81.71 billion) but an audit of the borrowings was one of the key demands of anti-tax hike protesters that forced the government to abandon a number of planned tax increases in June.

The audit has already started, Mbadi said, but did not provide further details regarding the focus of the investigation or when a report is expected to be ready.

The auditor general is a constitutionally mandated independent office that is funded by the state.

During the height of the protests, President William Ruto appointed a committee to perform the audit. However, several appointees, including the head of the Law Society of Kenya, declined the appointments, saying the task should be carried out by the auditor general.

During his parliamentary vetting for the post, Mbadi had promised to ensure there is more “debt accountability” to help the public better understand the issue.

More than 50 people were killed in the protests, which forced President Ruto to abandon the government’s financing law.

It also led to a series of credit downgrades by the three main global ratings agencies.

A team from the International Monetary Fund is in the country on a fact-finding mission ahead of its board meeting to approve the latest review of Kenya’s programme and approve a disbursement of US$600 million.

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