Six months after entering office as president in place of his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta, President William Ruto has explained why he has not kept the pledges he made during the campaign.
Speaking to Al Jazeera yesterday, Ruto stated that the state had to spend money intended for development projects and lowering the high cost of living to deal with the disaster because of the country’s drought crisis.
He disclosed that the state has been spending Ksh5 billion on a monthly basis to lessen the consequences of drought.
Our budget is being redirected and rearranged. We will further rearrange our budget after spending near to Ksh30 billion on feeding, obtaining food for cattle, and water tracking.
It will not rain this year because we are redistributing resources intended for development, schools, and hospitals to feed people and cattle.
According to the data provided by the Head of State, his administration spent Ksh166 million per day on average to combat the consequences of drought.
Ruto further emphasized how expensive it was for Kenya to get funding due to the high costs of development loans in the global financial systems, particularly for African nations.
“It’s unfair that we pay 100 times as much to access development as they do. He noted that the current financial system is biased against those in the global south, particularly those in Africa.
In order for African countries to enjoy low loan rates like other sovereign states, the president continued to call on international monetary organizations to examine their rates.
