Kenya Clears All Debt Owed to the UK Since Independence

Kenya is no longer indebted to the United Kingdom after the National Treasury cleared all the direct loans owed to Britain.

The country does not owe the UK as of June compared to a debt of Sh35 million in May and Sh1.4 billion in 2015, according to data from the Treasury.

This becomes the first time Kenya is not indebted to Britain since the country attained independence from colonial rule in 1963.

The director-general of Public Debt Management Office at the Treasury Haron Sirima said the UK no longer offers direct funding to developing countries such as Kenya.

Instead, it channels funding to these countries through various agencies including the Department for International Development (DFID), and the World Bank.

“The World Bank Group is the leading official creditor to Kenya with the UK as a significant contributor to these resources. So for every dollar we receive from World Bank or IMF, the UK taxpayers funds are included, in a significant way,” Sirima said.

“Furthermore, the UK through its development assistance arm, DFID channels funds directly to the private sector non-state actors. This is a common practice by most EU countries and the US.” 

Kenya’s total public debt currently stands at Sh6.6 trillion and is expected to go further up due to the huge appetite for borrowing under the Jubilee administration.