THE IMF DEBT TRAP KILLING KENYAN DREAMS

I walked down Kimathi Street yesterday and the air felt heavy. It was not just the usual Nairobi humidity or the smell of roasting maize on the corner. It was the tension. I saw a group of young men sitting outside a closed shop. They were staring at their phones with faces that showed a mix of boredom and absolute fury. These are the graduates our system promised a future. These are the programmers, the accountants, and the engineers who were told that if they worked hard, the Silicon Savannah would embrace them. Instead, they are watching the price of bread climb while the government takes another massive loan.

I could not lie to myself in that moment. We are living through a slow-motion car crash. Our leaders are addicted to debt like a drunkard is addicted to cheap spirits. But the hangover is not theirs to suffer. It belongs to the 22-year-old in Githurai who cannot find a job because the private sector is suffocating under taxes. It belongs to the mother in Kisumu who has to choose between electricity and school fees. Let that sink in for a moment. We are borrowing money to pay the interest on money we already wasted.

Here’s the thing about the Kenyan economy today. We are being managed by accountants in Washington who have never stepped foot in a matatu. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) sits in their glass towers and looks at spreadsheets. They see numbers. They see “fiscal consolidation.” They see “revenue mobilization.” I see a generation being sold into systemic poverty to balance a ledger that was never meant to favor us. Let me be clear. This is not just bad luck. This is a choice made by people who are too insulated to feel the consequences.

The IMF Shadow Over Nairobi

The IMF is the new colonial landlord. Think about that. Every time our National Treasury needs a fix, they go to Washington with their bowls out. The IMF says yes, but they have a list of demands. They want the government to cut subsidies. They want the government to tax everything that moves. They want us to pay more for fuel, more for internet, and more for basic food. When you combine high interest rates + a weakening shilling + aggressive taxation, you get a recipe for a revolution.

I saw the budget figures for this year and they are terrifying. We are looking at a debt of over 10.5 trillion shillings. That is a number so large it loses meaning. But it means something very real when you realize that over 60 percent of our tax revenue goes just to servicing that debt. We are working for our creditors. Every time you pay your KRA obligations, you are not building a road in Turkana. You are paying a bank in London or a fund in New York.

Here is what needs to happen. We need to stop pretending that this is sustainable. The IMF claims they are helping us stabilize. But look around you. Is the shilling stable? Is the cost of living stable? The only thing that is stable is the increasing misery of the middle class. We are being squeezed from both sides. The government wants more of our money, and the IMF ensures that we have no choice but to give it.

Silicon Savannah or Digital Sweatshop

We love to brag about our tech scene. We tell the world that Nairobi is the hub of innovation in Africa. But have you looked at the taxes on digital services lately? The government is so desperate for cash that they are trying to tax the very industry that could save us. They want a piece of every click, every transfer, and every remote job. I spoke to a startup founder in Westlands last week. He told me he is moving his operations to Rwanda. Why? Because the tax environment here is hostile to growth.

Kenyans need to demand an explanation for why we are killing our best hope for employment. We have thousands of brilliant kids learning to code. They are ready to compete with Silicon Valley. But they are being hampered by a government that sees a laptop as a tax revenue opportunity rather than a tool for liberation. When you combine high data costs + new digital taxes + a lack of venture capital, the Silicon Savannah starts to look like a digital sweatshop.

I see the global trends. AI is changing everything. The US and China are fighting for dominance. Where is Kenya in this? We are busy debating how to tax M-Pesa transactions to pay off a loan for a railway that does not make a profit. It is a tragedy of priorities. Let me be clear. If we do not protect our tech sector from the tax man’s greed, we will be left behind for another fifty years.

The Global Debt Game

This is not just a Kenyan problem, but we are the ones feeling the sharpest edge of the blade. Look at the United States. They have a debt of over 34 trillion US dollars. But they can print their own money. They have the reserve currency of the world. We do not have that luxury. When we borrow in US dollars, we are at the mercy of the Federal Reserve. When they raise interest rates in Washington, the price of unga goes up in Kawangware. Think about that connection.

I watched the news about the US elections and the global market shifts. Most people think these things are far away. They are not. If the global economy sneezes, Kenya catches pneumonia. But our leaders act like they can just borrow their way out of a global recession. They take loans at 8 percent or 9 percent interest and then wonder why we are broke. I could not lie. It feels like we are being led by people who failed basic math.

Here’s the thing. The global financial system is rigged against emerging markets. We are told to open our borders and follow the rules of the free market. But when we get into trouble, the rules change. The IMF steps in not to save us, but to ensure the global banks get their money back. They do not care if your kids go to bed hungry. They care about the credit rating. Kenyans need to demand a seat at the table where these rules are made.

The Gen Z Awakening

I have never seen anything like the energy on the streets lately. The youth are not waiting for a political savior anymore. They have realized that the system is built to keep them down. I stood among the protesters recently and listened. They were not talking about tribal politics. They were talking about the Finance Bill. They were talking about the 1.4 billion shilling renovation of a house while schools have no desks.

This is the ground-level reality that the IMF misses. People are tired of being told to sacrifice while the elite live in luxury. I saw a TikTok video of a young girl explaining the national debt better than the Cabinet Secretary. That is the power of the new Kenya. We are informed. We are connected. And we are no longer afraid. When you combine the power of the internet + a desperate youth + a corrupt leadership, you get the spark for real change.

I saw the police response and it was shameful. They used water cannons and teargas on their own children. But you cannot teargas an idea. You cannot arrest a generation that has nothing left to lose. Here is what needs to happen. The government needs to realize that they are serving the people, not the IMF. They need to stop the wastage and start the investment.

The High Cost of Corruption

We cannot talk about debt without talking about the hole it falls into. Where did all the money go? We have borrowed billions of US dollars for infrastructure. Some of it is there, sure. But how much was skimmed off the top? I heard a story about a bridge that cost three times what it should have. I saw a report about billions lost in the health ministry. This is why the tax hikes hurt so much. It is not just the money; it is the knowledge that it is being stolen.

Kenyans need to demand an audit of all national debt. We should not pay for loans that were looted. Let that sink in. Why should you pay for a road that was never built? Why should your children pay for a private jet for a politician? This is the core of the anger. We are being asked to be “patriotic” by paying taxes, but the people collecting them are not patriotic enough to stop stealing.

I walked past a government office today and saw a fleet of new luxury SUVs. Each one costs more than most Kenyans will earn in a lifetime. That is where our IMF loans are going. They are going into leather seats and tinted windows. Here’s the thing. We are a poor country pretending to be rich, and we are doing it on a credit card that we cannot afford.

A Way Forward for the Nation

We are at a crossroads. We can continue down this path of debt and despair, or we can demand a total reset. It will not be easy. The IMF will scream. The banks will threaten us. But the alternative is the total collapse of the Kenyan dream. I see the potential in our people every day. I see the hustle in the markets. I see the brilliance in the tech hubs. We have everything we need to succeed except for honest leadership.

Here is what needs to happen immediately:

1. Demand a full, independent forensic audit of the 10.5 trillion shilling national debt to identify and repudiate “odious” loans that were lost to corruption.
2. Force the government to slash the bloated travel and hospitality budgets for all public officials by at least 50 percent before asking for another cent in taxes.
3. Establish a permanent citizen-led oversight committee to monitor all IMF and World Bank agreements to ensure they do not violate the basic rights of Kenyans.
4. Invest heavily in local manufacturing and the digital economy by removing the Digital Service Tax and providing tax breaks for startups that employ more than 10 people.
5. Organize at the community level to ensure that every shilling sent to the counties is accounted for and spent on projects that actually improve lives.

The time for polite conversation is over. We have been polite while they sold our future. We have been patient while they mortgaged our land. Now, we must be loud. We must be fearless. We must remember that the power belongs to the people, not the men in suits in Washington or the politicians in Nairobi. Think about that the next time you look at your paycheck. You are not just working for yourself. You are working for a system that is designed to keep you in debt. It is time to break the chains.