By Suleiman Mbatiah
Kenya is losing huge amounts of foreign loans and aid to corruption, leaving taxpayers burdened with debts that never translate into development.
Human rights activist Dr. Isaac Newton Kinity says the theft of public funds has reached “senseless and abnormal” levels, with most of the looted money coming from borrowed funds with high interest rates.
“Kenya loses at least Sh2 billion every day, about Sh1 trillion annually and nearly Sh5 trillion in a single presidential term,” he pointed out, warning the figure may have grown under the current administration.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta once admitted publicly that Sh2 billion was being stolen daily, while President William Ruto’s Minister of Finance, John Mbadi has since repeated the claim.
Dr Kinity said this is money that could create jobs for millions of unemployed youths, raise the meagre wages of Kenyan workers, including the KDF,or improve hospitals and schools.
“Instead, it ends up in the hands of a few individuals,” Dr. Kinity regretted in a statement to newsrooms.
Dr Kinity, who is also the Chairman of the Kikimo Foundation for Corruption and Poverty Eradication noted that the scandal goes beyond Kenya’s borders, affecting donor countries such as the United States.
He explained that every dollar lost to graft in Kenya is also a loss to American taxpayers and that it is the very reason why leaders like U.S. President Donald Trump cut aid to Kenya and other “corrupt nations”.
Early this year, hundreds of internal contractors working for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) were put on unpaid leave, and some were terminated after President Trump imposed a sweeping freeze on US foreign aid worldwide.
Analysts warn unchecked corruption deepens Kenya’s debt crisis and strains donor relations, while for ordinary citizens, it worsens poverty, unemployment, and broken promises, compounding their already harsh daily struggles
At the same time, Dr Kinity praised the U.S. for still keeping open its Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which benefits people from more than 170 countries, even while tightening scrutiny of aid and immigration.
He also linked the broader corruption crisis to domestic scandals, such as the alleged Ndabibi land grab in Naivasha, where thousands of elderly residents are said to have been displaced. He called on President Ruto to act swiftly and have those involved charged.
“How can a government be silent when people who have lived on land since birth are being displaced and charged with trespass? These Kenyans are too old to work anywhere else. Taking their land is heartless,” he said warning to escalate the matter to President Trump.