When Kenya’s debt numbers rise, the immediate reaction is predictable; alarm, austerity calls and renewed pressure from international lenders. But what if part of the problem is not the debt itself—but how it is being counted?
That question now sits at the centre of Kenya’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is pushing for a broader definition of public debt to include liabilities linked to fuel levies, sports levies, import duties, and pending bills.
