“God Loves This Government!” – CS Mbadi Claims
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi defended the government’s handling of Kenya’s public debt, claiming that prompt decisions saved the country from a potentially devastating sovereign default.
Speaking on Saturday, Mbadi stated that the government benefited from unexpected market conditions that enabled it to refinance maturing obligations.
“Fortunately for this government, and I say, God loves this government, hata kama unasema wantam, hiyo ni yako, hiyo ni ya shetani, Mungu anapenda hii serikali, we will have two terms, and I will tell you why,” Mbadi said.
God loves this government. Even when you say wantam, that's on Satan. God loves this government, we will have tutam – CS Mbadi pic.twitter.com/VvPtKu8JLY
— Kenyans.co.ke (@Kenyans) January 17, 2026
“Something no one expected happened. The market opened and this government went to the market, got another Eurobond and refinanced the other Eurobond,” he said.
Mbadi characterized the development as good fortune rather than great economic skill.
“It was luck. It was not any economic magic for Kenya,” he said.
However, he emphasized that the administration acted fast to ensure that the opportunity did not expose the country to more risk.
He stated that the Treasury chose to deal with forthcoming Eurobond obligations earlier than required.
“That is why last year in February and March, because we were aware another Eurobond was coming up for payment for May 2027, we decided to deal with it earlier, and we managed,” Mbadi said.
CS Mbadi’s speeches may sound convincing, but his performance in office tells a different story. pic.twitter.com/4OqX5oUlIs
— 𝗩𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱 (@vinguard254) January 17, 2026
He added that a similar decision was made later in the year.
“In September, again, we dealt with 2028. We didn’t want to behave like the other government which decided to leave the rest.”
Mbadi stated that Kenya had been identified by the International Monetary Fund as being at great danger of default.
“IMF categorised Kenya among five other countries in Africa which were going into default. All those countries have defaulted. It is only Kenya which has not defaulted,” he said.
He cautioned that a national debt default would have disastrous consequences for the country and its citizens.
“You people don’t know what a sovereign debt default means,” Mbadi said. “If a country defaults in paying debt, all public servants must take salary cuts.”
He stated that any bailout from international lenders would have come with heavy terms.
“For us to be bailed out by the IMF and World Bank, they will come and tell us, you have found yourself in a mess, we have to clean you,” he said.
“To clean you, you start with yourself. Everybody has a 50 per cent pay cut. You must rationalise. Some staff must go home.”
Mbadi claimed Kenya narrowly escaped such a scenario.
“I am giving you what probably would have happened to Kenya if we defaulted. It was terrible,” he said.
“We were in a bad situation, but we have come out of that problem. Even the IMF have said we escaped.”
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He blamed the debt crisis on the previous administration’s lack of preparation. Mbadi stated that by early 2024, Kenya would face a significant repayment with no clear plan in place.
“Before we reached 2024 February, a Eurobond was coming up for payment of Sh260 billion in June, and there was no plan in place because the government that was there knew they were leaving, so they didn’t care,” he said.
Mbadi argued that early involvement and decisive action saved the country from more economic distress.
“God Loves This Government!” – CS Mbadi Claims
