Deputy President William Ruto, in a hasty about turn, has strongly blasted the government that he serves in for borrowing heavily saying it is crippling the economy.

Ruto termed the borrowing by the Jubilee government headed by President Uhuru Kenyatta, his boss, as excessive, despite being the strongest defender of government borrowing years earlier.

“In Kenya, now even a yet to be born baby already owes the country some money,” he said.

He warned that Kenya’s huge appetite for foreign loans to fund development is hurting the economy, painting a bleak future burdened by external debt and poor budgeting.

The DP promised his government, should he become president in 2022, would

The deputy president maintained that his hustler movement would invest in Kenyans to pay taxes, arguing that this would in turn incentivise economic development and reduce appetite for loans.

Ruto was speaking at Friends Church in Kakamega County, coming as he has been exchanging bitter words with his boss President Kenyatta over the government’s performance and his early ambitions.

Kenyatta has accused his principal assistant taking credit for government development projects while criticising it for its failures and even dared the DP to quit if he had issues with his government.

Ruto was the strongest defender of the Jubilee government’s huge appetite for loans during their first term amid criticism from opposition leaders led by Raila Odinga and economists led by David Ndii.