Kenya is now spending more money to service its public debt than on education, health and social protection combined, a new report has shown. This pattern is evidence to a dramatic squeeze on public services which is affecting the ordinary citizens the most.
The report, titled "The People’s Audit: Reclaiming Kenya’s Fiscal Sovereignty" and produced by the Okoa Uchumi coalition of civil society groups, uses official data to track the fiscal trade-off. It found that "debt service obligations now consume more than half of all revenues," a figure that reached 52 per cent of government revenue in the 2023/24 financial year.