NAIROBI - Kenya's finance minister urged foreign donors to consider cancelling its debt so it can use the repayment money to help stop a punishing drought from pushing millions of people deeper into poverty.
Kenya is suffering its worst drought in years, with at least 2.5 million people facing food shortages while their livestock die from shrinking supplies of water and pasture. More than half of Kenya's 32 million people live on less than a dollar a day.
"Kenya is one of the five African nations which has not benefited from debt relief and I have often sat and wondered whether we are being penalised for having been good in repaying our debts," Finance Minister David Mwiraria said.
He said Kenya, which owes $5.6 billion in external debt, had been left out of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative that offers some debt relief for countries who make certain economic reforms.
"If we were to get debt relief we would be in a position to spend funds in the critical areas of health, education," Mwiraria said.
Kenya was also left out of a multilateral debt forgiveness plan introduced by the world's richest nations at a G8 meeting last year, Mwiraria said.
"When it comes to the needs of the Kenyan people, we are as needy in fact even more needy then the countries which have gotten debt waivers under the HIPC programme debt waiver under the multilateral process," the minister said.
Senior United Nations envoy Jeffrey Sachs has accused Western donors of failing to respond to the plight of millions on the brink of starvation because of severe drought in Africa.
The UN says at least six million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti need food, but only 16,400 tonnes of the required 64,000 tonnes have been made available.
"Drought is giving us real difficulties and we may be forced to reduce some of the budgetary provisions we made in order to make sure Kenyan people do not starve to death," Mwiraria said.
Kenya's last rains, in the October-December rainy season were poor and President Mwai Kibaki last week declared food shortages a disaster in the arid north and some coastal areas a national disaster.
"Energy has become very expensive, because with drought we do not have enough water in the dams, we cannot use hydroelectricity and we have to use thermal energy which becomes very expensive," Mwiraria said.
Mwiraria asked donors to first help by providing food aid.
"If worst comes to the worst we have no option but to reduced the budgets of all ministries," Mwiraria said.
Analysts say Kenya might find it difficult to convince donors to write off its debts due to what many see as Kibaki's slow pace in stamping out corruption, which thrived during the 24-year rule of former President Daniel arap Moi.
But Kenyan Health Minister Charity Ngilu asked donors not to punish the poor over corruption.
"We (the government) will continue to fight corruption, we cannot do it overnight. Do not make the children in the village suffer (because of it)," she said.
Story by Wangui Kanina
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
