NEW YORK- President William Ruto has told world leaders that Kenya spent an additional $5.3 billion, approximately Sh685 billion, on education over the past four years despite the country’s heavy debt obligations.
President Ruto said the investment had financed the recruitment of 100,000 teachers, construction of more than 23,000 classrooms and development of 1,600 laboratories.
The government had also expanded financial support for universities and technical training institutions, he said.
“We do this because education is not consumption. It is the infrastructure of opportunity, productivity and national transformation,” President Ruto said.
He was speaking during Kenya’s national address at the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The President used Kenya’s education spending to argue that expensive debt was increasingly forcing developing countries to choose between repaying creditors and financing essential public services.
Global public debt reached a record $102 trillion in 2024, according to figures cited in his address.
President Ruto said developing countries accounted for less than a third of the debt but paid about $1 trillion in interest during the year.
He added that 46 developing countries were spending more on interest payments than on either healthcare or education.
“The hospital competes with the creditor, the classroom competes with debt service, and too often the creditor is paid first,” President Ruto said.
Children Carrying Cost of Debt
The President said 251 million children and young people remained out of school globally, while millions attending classes lacked teachers, books, meals and adequate facilities.
He warned that reducing education spending to meet debt obligations transferred the consequences of the current financial system to future generations.
President Ruto called for reforms that would make long-term development financing cheaper and more accessible to developing countries.
He said such countries were borrowing at interest rates between two and four times higher than those charged to developed economies.
The President also criticised sovereign credit-rating practices, saying subjective assessments had cost African countries about $75 billion through excessive interest payments and foregone lending.
“Capital must price risk; it must not price prejudice,” he said.
Accountability at Home
President Ruto acknowledged that reforms to the international financial system would not eliminate the responsibility of individual governments.
He said governments must manage debt prudently, strengthen public institutions, prepare credible projects, honour contracts and tackle corruption.
“A fairer international system requires responsibility on both sides. Reform abroad cannot substitute for accountability at home,” he said.
The President called on multilateral development banks to provide larger and longer-term loans while expanding guarantees, risk-sharing instruments and local-currency financing.
He argued that developing countries should not have to finance long-term infrastructure projects using expensive, short-term debt.
