Musalia Mudavadi tears into Jubilee’s borrowing spree and corruption

Musalia Mudavadi: In an uncharacteristic attack today, the Amani National Coalition leader likened the manner in which the government borrows money to the operations of a secret society. [File, Standard]

Amani National Congress Party leader Musalia Mudavadi has called for the establishment of an Independent Debt Management Authority to keep rein in borrowing by the Jubilee government.

In an uncharacteristically harsh-worded statement on the State of the Nation delivered ahead of the 56th Madaraka Day, to be celebrated in Narok on Saturday, Mr Mudavadi said government’s borrowing was handled if it was “a function of a secret society.”

He said Jubilee must tell Kenyans the true level of the country’s indebtedness and detailed terms and conditions around each debt.

“Time has come when we now must establish an independent debt management authority,” the  Amani leader said during a press conference today, adding that the national debt was almost hitting the Sh6 trillion mark with no clear-cut plan to track and manage it.

“Today the national debt is just shy of Sh6 trillion mark. Most of this money has not been accounted for, but when we ask the government to publish the country’s debt portfolio, they give us a deaf ear,” he said.

He called government’s borrowing reckless, asking it and its allies to come out and give an account for borrowed monies and circumstances surrounding every debt.

Mr Mudavadi said the debt management authority will help the country move from the status quo, where borrowing is handled as a function of a secret society. He added that with current democratic space, the government should not conceal issues of public interest like borrowing.

Belatedly, he punched holes onto President Uhuru’s recent State of the Nation Address.

“He glossed over issues. He spoke in vague, unequivocal terms. The Head of State Address was a damper which left many us thinking whether he lives in this country or somewhere else. He must use the 56th Madaraka Day to redeem himself,” he said accusing the President of having had painted a picture of “a non-existent country”.

On corruption, Mr Mudavadi wondered why an individual who has been associated with corruption was sitting in the Cabinet while another was crisscrossing the country flaunting ill-gotten money as 8.5 million young people were unemployed or underemployed.

He said the stolen money could create jobs and asked Kenyans to stop ‘deodorising theft as corruption.”

He criticised the handling of the CBC Teacher training, noting that teachers should not be coerced into embracing a curriculum they barely understand.

In an obvious jab aimed at Education Minister Prof George Magoha, he talked of “over-bearing individuals barking at Kenyans instead of explaining government policies.”