Junet urges Ruto to ignore Ndindi Nyoro, backs continued govt borrowing
Suna East MP Junet Mohamed has called on President William Ruto to disregard concerns raised by former Budget Committee Chairman Ndindi Nyoro about Kenya’s rising debt levels, arguing that government borrowing should continue to facilitate development in previously marginalised regions.
Speaking during a prayer function in Migori County on Sunday, May 4, 2025, Junet passionately advocated for the equitable distribution of national resources, asserting that Kenya can only develop when resources are shared fairly among all regions.
“Your excellency, this country can develop only when people share things equally, when there’s equity. The problem that we are suffering from in this country nowadays is people who have become clever all of a sudden,” Junet stated.
Double standards
The National Assembly Minority Leader criticised what he perceives as a sudden shift towards fiscal conservatism from certain individuals concerning the development of regions that have historically received less government investment.
In a thinly veiled attack on Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, Junet questioned the timing and motivation behind his recent warnings about Kenya’s debt-to-GDP ratio.
He accused Nyoro of applying double standards, suggesting that concerns about national debt are being raised selectively to hinder development in specific areas while remaining silent when other regions benefit from government borrowing.
“I hear there’s someone in Parliament, a former chairman of the Budget Committee before Atandi became chairman, who is saying ‘Oh, our debt ratio, GDP is very high, we don’t have money now,’ yet when he was Budget chairman, there were no stories like that. He was putting everything there,” Junet said.
Need for govt borrowing
He further defended government borrowing as a necessary component of national development, pointing out that Kenya has a long history of taking on debt to finance infrastructure and other projects.
“This country has been borrowing for 50 years—borrowing to develop one region. But we all pay that debt. People in Migori pay taxes too. That tax gets bundled together and repays a debt that helped only one region — I don’t even know whether it’s in the north or the south,” he stated.
Taking a controversial stance on fiscal management, Junet explicitly dismissed concerns about Kenya’s debt-to-GDP ratio as irrelevant to the immediate development needs of his constituents.
“What shocks me is that the former Budget Chair is now coming to talk about GDP and debt ratios. I don’t want to hear that kind of talk. I don’t want to know about GDP. I don’t want to know about debt ratios. What I want is roads here in Migori. Take that other talk somewhere else,” he asserted.
He emphasised that development is the surest path to political cohesion and warned against using economic jargon to deny certain regions their rightful share.
“This country can only be united and cohesive when everyone gets their fair share. We don’t want to take anyone’s share, just as Dr. Oburu once said — we just want our rightful share. Even if it’s 0.1% or 1%, that is our share,” he stressed.
