Kenya’s Debt Crisis: MP Ndindi Nyoro Warns of Default Risk as Tensions with Ruto Grow

Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro has issued a stark warning over Kenya’s ballooning debt, cautioning that the country risks joining Africa’s growing list of defaulters.

Nyoro said the public debt—now estimated at Sh11 trillion—is spiralling out of control, and any move to renegotiate it could trigger even worse economic fallout.

“The country is edging dangerously close to default,” Nyoro said at the Institute of Public Finance annual budget review, adding that ongoing debt restructuring talks, including a planned visit to China by President William Ruto, signal just how fragile the situation has become. “Any indication that we are unable to service our loans is more catastrophic to our economy.”

The outspoken MP, once a key ally of President Ruto and seen as his blue-eyed boy after the 2022 campaign, has increasingly distanced himself from the government.

His fallout with the president became apparent late last year when he refused to back the impeachment of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua—now one of Ruto’s fiercest critic.

Shortly after, Nyoro was removed as chairman of the influential Budget and Appropriations Committee.

The former chair said Kenya’s debt has grown from under Sh2 trillion to Sh11 trillion over the past 12 years.

Under President Ruto’s administration alone, the debt has surged by more than Sh2 trillion, rising from Sh8.7 trillion to Sh10.9 trillion as of December 2024, according to Central Bank data. Local lenders account for 54 percent of this debt, while 46 percent is owed externally.

As the Treasury prepares the 2025/2026 budget—with projected spending of Ksh.4.2 trillion—Nyoro warned that debt servicing will consume nearly a quarter of that amount. Interest payments alone are expected to cost the country about Ksh.1 trillion, with Ksh.750 billion set aside for domestic debt and Ksh.200 billion for external repayment.

Nyoro also criticized the government’s aggressive tax regime, saying it has backfired on the economy. “Increasing taxes to get more revenue is a fallacy,” he said. “You end up distorting economic decisions. People stop spending and investing—and that means even the little revenue you hoped to raise never materializes.”

The remarks expose a deepening rift between the MP and the president, a dramatic shift from 2022 when Nyoro was one of Ruto’s most visible campaigners in the vote-rich Central Kenya region.

Now, as economic pressures mount, Nyoro has re-emerged as a vocal critic of the administration he once championed, joing the voices of dissent from Mt Kenya and other parts of the country.