For union boss Constantine Wesonga, there is a clear reason for the Kenyan state’s failure to pay its workers on time — its $70bn of total public debt.
“We’re having a crunch time because of the debts [build up] by the previous regime,” said Wesonga, secretary-general of Kenya’s public universities union. “So the government, whatever they collect now, first they pay the debt, then they collect for salaries.”
In addition to delayed delivery of state employees’ wages — “for the first time” in Kenya since it gained independence from Britain in 1963, according to opposition lawmaker Opiyo Wandayi — President William Ruto has faced mounting criticism for slashing subsidies, implementing austerity measures and aggressively collecting taxes.
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