Jimmy Wanjigi: Ruto has created a 'fake economy' built on debt and excessive taxation

Safina Party leader and 2027 presidential aspirant Jimmy Wanjigi has accused President William Ruto’s administration of presiding over a “fake economy” in which impressive macroeconomic figures mask the worsening financial struggles facing ordinary Kenyans and businesses.

Wanjigi, who has positioned himself as a tax justice crusader ahead of the 2027 General Election, said the country was facing a deeper economic crisis driven by excessive taxation, declining household purchasing power, high public debt, weak domestic liquidity and an increasingly hostile business environment.

He said protests by traders and other businesspeople over taxation and the cost of doing business were evidence that Kenyans were rejecting an economic model that, in his view, prioritises government revenues and debt repayment over their livelihoods.

“Businesses are protesting a hostile environment, a domestic liquidity problem and an affordability crisis facing every Kenyan. This is Ruto’s economic plague,” Wanjigi said.

He accused President Ruto of relying on statistics and official economic indicators that, he argued, failed to capture the reality confronting households across the country.

“Ruto doesn’t get it. He keeps giving high-sounding, massaged numbers and speeches that are completely disconnected from ordinary Wanjiku,” he said.

Wanjigi said the economic grievances that fuelled the 2024 Gen Z protests had not disappeared, arguing that the demonstrations were fundamentally about fiscal justice and the lack of economic opportunities for young people.

“In 2024, Gen Z protests were for fiscal justice. Young people felt the economic system was oppressive and offered no hope for their future. Ruto responded with guns and brutality,” he said.

He said the protests by traders represented another manifestation of the same underlying discontent.

The Safina leader questioned the value of taxation when citizens do not see corresponding improvements in public services and economic opportunities.

“Why should Kenyans pay taxes with no returns? Ruto’s regime is extractive. His time is up. Kenyans deserve tax justice,” he said.

Wanjigi placed Kenya’s public debt at the centre of his criticism, arguing that the country’s borrowing had created a cycle of taxation and debt repayment that was squeezing households and businesses.

“Debt has led to economic colonialism that has turned Kenyans into financial slaves,” he said.

He argued that the rising debt burden was not merely a matter of government accounting, but a problem that directly affected the cost of living, taxation, public services, and the availability of money within the domestic economy.

“The high and rising national debt harms the economy, makes life less affordable, places an undue burden on future generations and jeopardises the economic prosperity of Kenyans,” Wanjigi said.

According to him, the debt burden was contributing to high taxation, difficulties in financing essential services, constrained domestic liquidity, and rising affordability pressures.

He said the government should stop blaming external factors or individual actors for the economic difficulties facing the country.

He further claimed that between 75 and 81 per cent of government revenue was being consumed by debt servicing, arguing that the figures demonstrated the limited fiscal space available to the administration.

Wanjigi said the debate over Kenya’s economy should move beyond headline indicators such as economic growth and the tax-to-GDP ratio and instead focus on the financial circumstances of ordinary households.

“Kenya’s real constraint is not the headline tax-to-GDP ratio of roughly 14 to 17 per cent, but weak household liquidity, eroded real incomes and collapsing businesses,” he said.

He described this as the “microeconomics” of ordinary Kenyans, the daily struggle to meet basic needs, keep businesses operating and maintain a decent standard of living.

“The actual issue is ordinary Wanjiku’s economy. The microeconomics. It is about people’s daily lives and living conditions, the human worth, the safety and economic security, the dignity of every Kenyan,” he said.

Wanjigi argued that many households were operating with little or no financial cushion, leaving them particularly vulnerable to increases in food, energy, transport and housing costs.

“Most Kenyan households operate with thin or no financial buffer,” he said, adding that the pressures facing households were similar to those confronting businesses.

“Most Kenyans are struggling to pay rent. Like businesses, every household in Kenya is in great economic pain,” he said.

Wanjigi dismissed what he described as an overemphasis on macroeconomic indicators, arguing that a government cannot claim economic success when citizens are struggling to survive.

“Ruto’s macroeconomics has been about the government’s ledger books being healthy, not Kenyans’ lives,” he said.

“We have a very fake economy. An artificial economy. While macroeconomic numbers might look good on paper, the majority, 99 per cent of ordinary Kenyans, face high costs, few real jobs and financial strain.”

He said businesses were being squeezed by what he described as an “extremely hostile, extractive tax and regulatory system”, warning that continued pressure on enterprises would undermine employment and economic growth.

“Businesses are being killed by an extremely hostile, extractive tax and regulatory system. We must have serious structural economic change,” Wanjigi said.

He said his political agenda ahead of the 2027 presidential election would focus on tackling poverty, improving household incomes and giving citizens greater control over their economic futures.

“Our mission is to eliminate poverty and raise the living standards of Kenyans,” he said.

Wanjigi said the country needed to move beyond short-term interventions and undertake fundamental reforms aimed at creating what he termed durable economic and financial freedom.

“We must give Kenyans durable economic and financial freedom. Our country must gain economic sovereignty,” he said.