Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary (PS) Korir Sing'oei has criticised Saboti Constituency Member of Parliament MP Caleb Amisi for comments he made alleging that the government was seeking a loan from China and using the Taita Taveta mineral fields as collateral.
The PS termed these remarks by the lawmaker as not only false but also irresponsible for someone in his position as a member of the National Assembly Defence Committee.
"Very irresponsible, baseless and misguided assertion from a member of the Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee," PS Sing'oei stated
In a social media post, the MP stated that the Chinese government had denied the Kenya Kwanza government this alleged loan.
He also called out the government, urging it to stop pawning off public property for personal gain and instead live within its means.
"Reports reaching me are that China has rejected the attempt by the UDA government to borrow more money from China using the Taita Taveta mineral fields as collateral. If proven to be true, this is an unacceptable move. Let us live within our means.
"Let's avoid committing any single asset of the Republic of Kenya in a quest to fund our misplaced priorities and grandiose spending. Kenya must have a renaissance!"
These claims come just after reports broke that Kenya had secured a Ksh77 billion ($600 million) short-term loan from commercial banks.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said this loan was backed by motorist fuel levy collections and would fund the construction of roads.
This will be backed by the fuel levy collections from motorists, the finance minister said on Wednesday, to fund the construction of roads in the face of budgetary constraints.
This comes even as Kenya struggles to fund development projects due to slower growth in revenue from taxes, high debt repayments and an increase in expenditure demands, including from the counties.
Mbadi also told Reuters that Kenya was in the process of seeking a bigger transaction that could take the form of a privately placed bond or a syndicated loan, for a maximum of Ksh194 billion ($1.5 billion).
The Ksh77 billion will be utilised to pay road contractors as the country seeks a larger loan.
