Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has been dealt a new headache after the Kenyan treasury failed to account for billions of shillings spent during his tenure.
According to reports, Uhuru’s government received $740 million (83.7 billion) in August 2022 for the sole purpose of increasing the country’s foreign reserves.
According to the Institute of Public Finance, the Treasury has been unable to explain the funding of specific projects using 41.8 billion shillings from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
A further explanation reveals that the Kenyan government, then led by Uhuru Kenyatta, informed the IMF that it intended to use some of the 83.7 billion borrowed locally.
As it is now, the review from the Institute of Public Finance maintains that it’s review has not identified specific projects the money was used to fund.
“The government in December told the IMF that it will use part of the Sh83.7 billion locally and would borrow half of the SDR allocation from the CBK in local currency and repay in 30 years.
The SDR allocation was crucial to building up Kenya’s forex reserves in September to $9.6 billion.
A report jointly authored by IPF, a think tank based in Nairobi and Christian Aid, an international NGO headquartered in London, says its review could not identify specific projects funded through the SDR.” Reads part of the report.
This report raises new concerns about how the money was spent by the Uhuru Kenyatta regime, which included Ukur Yatani as cabinet secretary for the treasury.
According to the group, the CBK and the Treasury informed them that the SDR was spent on budget support without specifying which projects were funded.
“The government reports that it deviated from the principles of fiscal responsibility where part of the borrowed funds was used to finance 17.7 percent of recurrent expenditure and external loans redemption,” said Veronicah Ndegwa, a senior analyst at IPF.
According to the Treasury, the deviation was caused by the need to protect the poor from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and to purchase vaccines.
