Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Wednesday, April 19, detailed how President Uhuru Kenyatta circumvented salary delays during his tenure.
Speaking during a conference with Deputy Governors in Mombasa County, the DP claimed that Uhuru occasionally took loans from local banks to pay the salaries.
He expressed that the Jubilee administration strategy was flawed as it did not address the issues that were causing the salary delays.
Gachagua maintained that President William Ruto decided not to emulate Uhuru's strategy because the loans were costly.
"It is true that we have had challenges because the President has made a conscious decision that it is not prudent for the government to borrow money from banks at 14 per cent interest to pay salaries.
"We have agreed as a government that the only way to restore the economy of the country to where President Mwai Kibaki left it is to fund the budget through revenue collection," Gachagua detailed.
On the other hand, he noted that only a few politicians were benefitting from the expensive loans as some of the officials in the past administration had shares in local banks.
The DP added that the loans contributed largely to the current economic situation as Ruto had to prioritise repaying the loans.
However, he noted that the delayed salaries had already been paid in full.
"Last month we had challenges because the previous administration used to borrow money from banks linked to the same leaders and we said no to it," he asserted.
Gachagua was responding to concerns over the delayed salaries and the cash crunch that is facing some county governments owing to late disbursements by the national government.
A number of government officials experienced salary delays in March - delays that had not been experienced in the country over the years.
The delays also saw the Kenya Kwanza administration attract criticism over the delays even as Azimio la Umoja leaders led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga called for an audit over the same.
