My Biggest Challenge Since Taking Office In September 2022- Ruto
However, Ruto expressed his intention to shift the pattern upside down
Marvin Chege 
President William Ruto on Thursday, January 11 termed Kenya's issues with debts as the greatest challenge he has had since assuming office on September 13, 2022.
Speaking during a meeting with Jubilee leaders at State House, Nakuru, Ruto admitted that the country's swelling debt was one issue that bullied him the most for the last year, spoiling his development plans.
The Head of State specified that for every Ksh10 the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) collects, Ksh7 goes to paying debts to various financial institutions and countries.
Jubilee MCAs at a meeting with President William Ruto at State House Nakuru on January 11, 2023. /PCS
“I hear many people saying we have a lot of problems, the only problem we have in Kenya is debts, and that is what has been hitting my head for the last one year because for every ten shillings you collect, seven shillings you use to pay debts.
"There is a problem because then you are left with Ksh3 to pay salaries, send to counties and do development,” said President Ruto.
However, Ruto expressed his intention to shift the pattern upside down to the point of directing Ksh7 to necessary development projects and the remainder focused on paying debts.
He affirmed that debts would not be used to build Kenya and instead, resources should be used to build Kenya.
“My intention is that we should flip it, we should be using three shillings to pay debt and seven shillings to run the country and that is my mission,” Ruto added.
“We have to change our country and I am telling you we are going to change Kenya. The people who are making noise will be the ones clapping for us in the future."
He also asserted that the only way to reduce debt was through the collection of taxes, a matter the late former President Mwai Kibaki succeeded in.
"Kibaki came into office and we were collecting Ksh200 billion and he said that we have to go the VAT way. After that, we reached Ksh1 trillion by the time he left office.
"People only want to be clapped for when they are elected. Why? No one is elected to be clapped for. We have to change this country and those opposing us will be the first to clap for us," he added.
Notably, David Ndii, the Chairperson of President William Ruto's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), accused former President Uhuru Kenyatta of creating an economic legacy filled with debts procured at the expense of producers to satisfy the elite in social class, a matter he attributed to Kenya's worsening economic woes.
Kenya currently has a debt portfolio of over Ksh10 trillion with some of the biggest lenders being multinational financial institutions like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and developed countries such as China.
One of the outstanding debts - the Eurobond - is for instance set to mature in the coming months, with Ruto noting that the country would pay Ksh500 billion towards the Eurobond between December 2023 and January 2024.
On December 17, 2023, during a media roundtable held at State House, Ruto indicated that his government has had to make very tough decisions while approaching financial institutions for advance loans.
"All we have done is to avoid jumping from the cliff because we have put brakes in expenditure, we have negotiated a good package with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and with bilateral countries and that is why I have been on the road," he said.
![Fire Torches Several Buildings in Mathare [VIDEO]](https://viraltea.co.ke/uploads/images/2022/08/image_380x226_630efc6faa230.jpg){kind=small}
