By M.A. Egge
It was a normal occurrence for a government to inherit debts from successive administrations. Equally, it was also a normal thing for a country to have a lot of foreign debt such as in the cases of Djibouti and Kenya.
The sentiments were made by the Minister of Finance Hon. Dr. Sa’ad Ali Shire when he appeared before the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives to explain how a 45m USD noting that it was an accrued debt hitherto.
He said that the debt was left behind by the successive administrations of the country.
“It is normal for governments to have debts, like Djibouti owes 1 billion dollars in debt, while Kenya owes 70 billion, monies that are supposed to be repaid given their nature if investitures”, he said.
The minister said that the loan information is well kept and each one is procedurally paid in a timely manner.
He added, “For us if you compare our annual production with the debt owed, it is negligibly low at 101%”.
He continued, “Of the 45 million debt that I mentioned, 56% was accrued and brought over from the previous administration, not this one. If you look at the past and now, the money is really spent on infrastructure, and the infrastructure that we have nationalized entails 40% while 49% regards to security”.
He summarized, “given the scenario, I think there is something we have lost nothing but have gained on the infrastructure provided”.