Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
21 December 2011
editorial
YESTERDAY President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga held a joint parliamentary group meeting with MPs. They were roasted for failing to control inflation and interest rates.
The MPs threatened to refuse to pass the Finance Bill, or at least not to pass it with amendments made over the last six months by Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta.
The MPs were playing to the political gallery and ignoring the national interest. There is plenty to criticise in the performance of Kibaki, Raila and Uhuru. But are they to blame for high inflation and interest rates? All over the world finance ministers are battling to save their economies. Many are in much worse shape than Kenya.
The main driver of inflation, and therefore of interest rates, has been the depreciating Kenyan currency, caused by high oil prices, drought, and panicked international investors. Tanzania and Uganda are trying to navigate the same perfect storm.
If the Finance Bill is not passed by December 31, essentially the government goes bankrupt. All tax collections since July have to be refunded. The MPs are playing with fire. They should pass the Finance Bill and then seek to attack the executive on more substantive issues.
Quote of the day: “Justice in the extreme is often unjust.” – French playwright Jean Racine was born on December 21, 1639.
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