Azimio vows to oppose plans to retrench civil servants amid such proposals by Ruto’s administration
3 min read
Azimio vows to oppose plans to retrench civil servants amid such proposals by Ruto's administration amid a financial crisis in the country
Azimio vows to oppose plans to retrench civil servants amid such proposals by Ruto’s administration amid a financial crisis in the country.
Despite calling for an independent investigation into the Kenya Kwanza government’s spending in the midst of the nation’s financial crisis, the opposition has vowed to oppose any plan to lay off civil servants.
“No civil servant is going to be retrenched while [President] Ruto is busy hiring CASs [chief administrative secretaries] and other personnel the country doesn’t need. Not under our watch,” said National Assembly Leader of Minority Opiyo Wandayi (Ugunja).
This comes after David Ndii, chair of President Ruto’s Council of Economic Advisors, recently hinted at plans to send civil servants packing, tweeting on April 8: “We could also retrench. That’s an option”.
The Azimio Coalition also urged lobbied a committee of lawmakers and financial experts to look into the government’s spending, management, and policies that have caused the nation’s financial crisis and delayed paying wages to public employees, including MPs.
Mr Wandayi and his deputy Robert Mbui (Kathiani) maintained that Kenyans “can’t and won’t” tighten their belts any more. They singled out National Treasury and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) for blame over the financial crisis.
“We believe that this near collapse of our financial sector is exacerbated by high government non-priority spending, high taxes that have hurt businesses, massive loan obligations to China, a weakening shilling and foreign exchange reserves at their lowest levels ever,” said Mr Wandayi.
Dr Ndii had blamed Kenya’s financial woes on matured Chinese loans.
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“How Chinese loans stopped KRA from meeting its revenue targets, only [Dr] Ndii knows,” said Mr Wandayi, adding: “National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u and his PS Dr Chris Kiptoo have merely confirmed what we already know — that the situation is bad and Kenyans should tighten their belts.”
KRA maintains it has met over 95 per cent of its revenue targets and is looking forward to recording a surplus by June.
The taxman had collected Sh1.2 trillion as at the end of February, leading to a shortfall of about Sh900 billion “that is not realistically achievable within the remaining two months.”
The fears by Azimio are further worsened by the “serious waning of trust in government securities”
The coalition claimed Treasury plans to borrow Sh1.04 trillion from the domestic market in the current financial year.
But Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) records show that the government has managed to raise only a paltry Sh333 billion as at the end of February 2023, leading to a shortfall of approximately Sh707 billion.
The Ruto administration has often claimed that it inherited huge foreign debts when it came into office in September 2022, which has been met with derision by the Opposition.
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