Catholic Bishops Call for Kenya's Debt to be Cancelled

This week, in a pastoral statement, Catholic Bishops called for the cancellation of Kenya's foreign debt, of more than Sh700 billion (£5 billion).

The statement, read by Bishop Peter Kairo of the Nakuru Diocese and Archbishops Zachaeus Okoth and John Njue, said that the huge debt owed to the rich North is being added to the big amount of funds already loaned from development partners, which also must be repaid.

The bishops urged that the debt has become unethical, and that it holds back the enjoyment of human rights. They lamented over the ordinary Kenyans that are suffering in degrading poverty, as Kenya’s government struggles to pay back the debt.

"Why should the poor, who have nothing to say about the accruing debt and have little or no benefit from it, bear the burden of its repayment?" they said.

They said it is unacceptable for Kenyans in urban areas to continue living on a dollar a day, while the cost of living in urban areas is comparable to that in the developed world.

The religious leaders stated that paying off the debt is an obstacle for development and social justice in Kenya.

"In whatever way the Kenyan debt was contracted, today it is still the cause of oppression, poverty and we dare say, of neo-slavery," they said.