Kenya’s Debt Debate Shifts: Who Benefits When Government Borrows, and Who Pays?

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In Summary:

Kenya’s public debt debate is moving beyond the question of how much the country owes to a more fundamental question: who benefits from borrowing, where does the money go, and what does the public receive in return? Following an earlier engagement in June between editors and civil society actors on public debt accountability and fiscal justice, editors met again on 20th August 2026, for a peer-to-peer learning session that placed procurement, domestic borrowing, debt servicing and public-private partnerships under renewed scrutiny. The deliberations offered a sobering lesson: debt itself is not necessarily the problem; the real danger emerges when borrowing is expensive, poorly allocated, insufficiently scrutinised or converted into projects whose costs are inflated while accountability remains weak.

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The peer-to-peer meeting brought editors together around a question increasingly central to Kenya’s fiscal debate: what happens to public resources after government borrows them?

James Muraguri, a public debt brief consultant at IRI, challenged journalists to broaden the meaning of accountability. Knowing what government has purchased, he argued, is not enough. The media must examine the procurement process, the vendor, the amount paid and whether the goods or services were actually delivered.

That message places journalism at the centre of public debt accountability. Borrowing may be necessary to finance development, but citizens deserve to know whether the money is producing the promised public benefit.

Alexander Riithi, Head of Programmes at The Institute for Social Accountability (TISA)

Credits| Kenya Editors Guild X account

Alexander similarly placed transparency at the heart of fiscal accountability, arguing that citizens can only hold leaders accountable when information about the use of public resources is available and understandable. His warning was particularly important: as debt repayment grows, spending pressures are increasingly being felt in sectors such as education, healthcare, social protection, water and sanitation.

The discussion further examined domestic borrowing and its implications for the wider economy. When government relies heavily on local financial markets, it can compete with businesses and households for available capital. This can make access to financing more difficult, particularly for enterprises that need affordable credit to grow, create jobs and invest.

The concern is therefore not simply who lends money to government, but who ultimately benefits from government borrowing and whether the wider economy receives sufficient value in return.

The meeting also revisited comparisons between different administrations and Kenya’s economic growth. Participants were reminded that public debt should not be judged simply by its size or by political comparisons. The more important question is whether borrowed resources were used productively and whether citizens received value for money.

This makes accountability essential regardless of which administration is in power.

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A major area of concern raised during the meeting was the growing use of public-private partnerships (PPPs). Riithi warned that while PPPs can help government deliver infrastructure and services, their complexity can create accountability gaps when citizens have limited access to information about contracts, costs, negotiations and long-term obligations.

Poorly structured PPPs can create opportunities for inflated project costs, weak oversight and arrangements in which the public carries significant risks while private interests benefit.

For editors, this presents a new area of investigative journalism. PPPs should not only be reported as major development projects. Journalists need to ask who initiated them, how contracts were awarded, how costs were determined, who carries the risks and what obligations ultimately fall on taxpayers.

The strongest message emerging from the engagement was therefore simple: public debt accountability must follow the money.

The media has a responsibility to move beyond reporting how much government has borrowed and investigate what the borrowing has delivered.Kenya does not only need information about its debt. It needs journalism that helps citizens understand the decisions behind that debt, the people and institutions benefiting from it, and whether the public is receiving value.

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PHOTO CREDITS: Kenya Editors Guild X Account