Ndindi Nyoro urges the State to count KSh175B fuel levy as national debt

Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro has urged the government to legalise the KSh175 billion borrowed as fuel levy and include it in the national debts.
Ndindi maintained that the securitisation of the loan was illegal and it’s a scandal in the making, urging National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi to come clean about it.
Speaking in his backyard, Ndindi said any financial engineering being done should follow the Public Finance Management Act, claiming that due process was not followed while borrowing the money from the local banks.
“If there is nothing to hide about this loan, it should be reflected in the national loan book and this way, there will be questions on illegal borrowing,” Ndindi said.
He said the loan, which matures in seven years, will have accrued an interest of KSh100 billion, which will be paid by the taxpayers.
The immediate former chair of the budget parliamentary committee maintained that this was a miscalculation that is likely to see the country get into a deeper financial crisis.
The MP had earlier questioned the move by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) to increase the fuel prices in the country, yet the neighbouring countries have lower prices.
He said the government needs to address the issue of taxation on the fuel to be able to bring down the prices and subsequently the cost of living, adding that the hike has nothing to do with the war between Iran and Israel.
“They should tell us if the ballistic missiles are falling in the country to trigger a fuel crisis and thus push up the prices,” he remarked.
“The government was waiting for the drop in prices globally to fix the levy, and that’s why there was no decline in the fuel prices in the country,” he added.
I saw yesterday the government officials running helter-skelter, everyone trying to run away from the responsibility and of interest to note was that there were conflicting responses from the chairperson of EPRA and the CEO; the cabinet secretary for energy, road and finance did not read from the same script.
“I appreciate the response from the government officials who admitted that the KSh7 levy was added to the fuel price last year, but they did not give the answers we are looking for,” he remarked.
Ndindi, however, took a swipe at the Cs finance, accusing him of playing diversionary tactics to evade addressing the matter.
“I want to remind Mbadi that he is no longer the charter boy that he used to be; now he holds a position with responsibility and the docket where he holds is empirical, not theoretical, and his responses need to be quantitative,” the MP said.
He said the government’s explanation that the money is being used for road construction is merely an excuse to escape accountability.
Mbadi, however, moved to defend the move to securitise part of the fuel levy, saying it was done within the law, and the KSh7 billion was redirected to unlock stalled infrastructure projects by clearing pending payments owed to road contractors.