Kenya Paid Sh8.6B Extra On A Loan Due To ‘Typing Error’

A typing error by the National Treasury has seen Kenya’s bilateral debt inflate by Ksh8.6 billion, the first Quarterly Economic and Budgetary Review has revealed.

The extra money was paid as part of repayment for a non-existent loan to the United Kingdom making the country’s bilateral debt service stands at Ksh41 billion.

This is despite Kenya clearing direct loans it owed the UK in 2020 after paying Ksh35.3 million.

The error has raised questions about the accuracy of data from the Treasury as the figure was supposed to be included in the Eurobond interest payments for the 10 and 30-year bonds Kenya borrowed in 2018.

“It is a wiring classification of debt service on the table. It is supposed to be Eurobond payment, not UK debt,” a source told a local publication.

The National Treasury has since pulled down the Quarterly Economic and Budgetary Review from its online publication after it was questioned about the error.

The present error comes years after the infamous error that could have added an extra Ksh9.2 billion to a supplementary budget that was presented before the National Assembly in 2009 by the then Minister of Finance, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Following the error, Uhuru argued that his office had not intended to defraud the public explaining that the error was an oversight.