Kenya's opposition coalition has unveiled a Sh4.32 trillion ($33 billion) alternative spending plan it calls the 'People's Budget,' accusing President William Ruto's administration of economic mismanagement and of deepening a debt crisis that is squeezing ordinary Kenyans, days before the government presents its official 2026/27 budget.
The proposal, launched under the United Alternative Government banner, is pitched as a direct counter to the government's planned Sh4.82 trillion program. Opposition leaders said their smaller budget would redirect spending toward social programs and youth employment while cutting the state's reliance on borrowing.
Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka singled out the Sh1.5 trillion allocated to debt repayments and pensions under the Consolidated Fund Services, saying debt service now competes directly with funding for essential public services. The opposition noted that the government plans to spend Sh4.82 trillion while collecting only Sh3.63 trillion in revenue, leaving a deficit of roughly Sh1.11 trillion. 'The difference of Sh1.11 trillion is borrowed,' Musyoka said.
The alternative budget also promises to scrap the Social Health Authority, the government's troubled health insurance scheme, which the opposition blames for coverage failures since it replaced the former national health fund.
The launch sharpens a budget season already shadowed by the memory of mass protests in 2024, when proposed tax rises drew young demonstrators into the streets and forced the withdrawal of a finance bill. Opposition figures have cast this year's finance proposals as a repeat of the same approach: raising revenue from a population already strained by the cost of living.
The government argues its spending plan sustains essential investment in infrastructure, education and security, and that fiscal consolidation is under way. Treasury officials are due to present the official budget to the National Assembly this week.
With a presidential election due in 2027, the dueling budgets function as opening campaign documents — competing answers to the question that has dominated Kenyan politics since 2024: who bears the burden of fixing the public finances.