Nairobi is expensive, the weather is confused, and the government is doing what it does best: looking for a new loan to pay off the old ones. Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o has finally said the quiet part out loud - we are becoming puppets of external lenders. While the big shots in suits talk about “diversifying budget support,” the reality is that we’re addicted to the IMF’s brand of financial heroin, and the withdrawal symptoms are going to be felt by anyone who takes a matatu to work.

The real scam here is the Government-Owned Enterprises (GOE) Act. It’s a masterclass in how to hide public money from the public. They want to turn state entities into limited liability companies so they can operate outside the “usual government systems.” Translation: they want to bypass Parliament and Nyakang’o’s office so they can move money around like a shell game at a downtown bus station. It’s not about “profitability”; it’s about making sure nobody can audit the heist until the money is already gone.

Nyakang’o is warning that these IMF-backed “reforms” are designed to squeeze funds meant for social programs just to keep the foreign lenders happy. When the IMF says “jump,” our leaders don’t just ask how high - they ask if they should tax the air on the way up. These “quick fiscal adjustments” they’re pushing for are just fancy words for making your life harder while they register public infrastructure as private companies to avoid “scrutiny.”

We’ve seen this script before. As we noted in The Caracas-Tehran Blueprint: Why Africa is Abandoning the Washington Consensus, the old way of doing business with the West is a trap that leaves countries hollowed out. Kenya is trying to pretend it’s modernizing, but you can’t claim to be a sovereign nation when your entire economic policy is dictated by a boardroom in Washington. We’re trading our long-term stability for a short-term fix, and the GOE Act is the legal lubricant to make the sell-off easier.

The High Court might have hit the pause button for now, but don’t get comfortable. In this city, “temporary orders” usually last just long enough for the check to clear. While the elite talk about “successor programs” and “fiscal consolidation,” the mwananchi is left wondering why the government needs to act like a secretive private equity firm just to manage roads and electricity. The reality is simple: they’re selling the house to pay the debt, and we’re the ones who’ll be left sleeping on the pavement.