John Mbadi: How I will save ‘good provisions’ of Finance Bill and make details of debt public
Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury and Economic Planning nominee John Ng'ongo Mbadi before the Committee on Appointments chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetag'ula.
Full details of the country's public debt will be made public if Parliament approves John Mbadi as the next Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Planning.
Mr Mbadi has told the National Assembly's Appointments Committee that if he is confirmed, Kenyans will know who they owe and how much.
The move, according to the nominated MP, is part of his strategy to tackle the thorny issue of the huge public debt that continues to strangle the country.
"If Kenyans owe people money, why can't people know and how much because it is not the government or the treasury that owes them, it is the people of Kenya," said Mr Mbadi.
Mr Mbadi told the Moses Wetang'ula-led committee that the billions borrowed by the government have always been kept secret, leaving many Kenyans to question the exact amount Kenya owes.
“Which are these secret agreements stopping us from knowing who we owe money to? Kenyans should know who they owe and at what rate. I will make this public,” Mr Mbadi told the vetting panel.
He said because of the lack of debt transparency, the billions borrowed are never used for the intended purpose, leaving Kenyans to pay back what they did not benefit from.
"Debt accountability is what most people are demanding. If you listen to Kenyans, they are asking what is our actual debt? That is my priority if I am approved by this House," Mr Mbadi said.
Mr Mbadi said if approved, there was a need to reduce borrowing and link the money borrowed to specific projects to reduce wastage.
“We must work on linking projects to loans. We can't borrow to support our budget or to finance other things that are not development in nature, debt comes to this country without going to specific projects,” Mr Mbadi said.
On the rejection of the Finance Bill, 2024 and how he is going to mop up resources to run the country, Mr Mbadi told MPs that there were good provisions in the rejected Bill which he intends to bring as amendments of parent Bills, an indication of a possible Tax (Amendments) Bill, soon.
Mr Mbadi said the rejected Bill was not just explained properly to Kenyans, a factor that caused Kenyans to rise up against it.
“The good provisions that are not contentious, in this (withdrawn Finance) bill, which can still help Kenya, we can bring specific amendments to those acts with proper public participation. The public felt there was no proper participation, which we had, but probably they felt they were not listened to. The Bill became bad in the eyes of the public and it had to be rejected in total because of lack of clear communication,” Mr Mbadi said.
He also outlined that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) needs to be reformed so as to equip it with the necessary tools to collect more taxes.
Mr Mbadi pointed out that current systems used by KRA are porous and have contributed tax leakages running into billions that affected the country’s income.
“The solution to tax mobilization in this country is to target the KRA, their system needs re-engineering, we are losing a lot through smuggling and tax linkages because we don’t have a proper system.
“The system is porous and we must update the system to stop leakages. My first meetings will be on how to reform KRA because without that we can't manage,” Mr Mbadi added.
On pending Bills, Mr Mbadi told the vetting panel that majority of them are fictitious saying that if approved, he will introduce a system where the government cannot pay current debt without clearing the previous ones.
He says when the Bills are left to accumulate, it causes some of them to be doubtful, hence prompt. payment is key to address pending bills menace.
Mr Mbadi while urging the committee to approve him said his experience at the budget committee for 15 years and as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee has exposed him to the budget-making process and interacted with government officers at the treasury.
He says he fully understands the budget-making process and the country’s financial management.
