PPA Party Leader Maliba Arnold has raised concerns over Kenya’s National Infrastructure Fund, warning that the government is using it to bypass parliamentary oversight, securitize public assets, and manipulate budgets.
Speaking on Monday on Radio Generation, he highlighted that infrastructure funds are being leveraged for political and financial maneuvering, rather than genuine investment in essential services like drainage, transport, and flood mitigation.
He explained that the fund, intended as a tool for investment in infrastructure, is being treated as a flexible pot of money that allows the executive to draw funds without sufficient scrutiny.
“If you look at how the National Infrastructure Fund is headed, you don’t need to struggle,” Arnold said. “Once it goes through, they will raise about 500 billion shillings, then go to the market and get two to three trillion shillings. This is not proper use of an investment fund.”
He highlighted that public assets, including strategic entities such as Safaricom, the Kenya Pipeline, and port facilities, are being placed under the fund.
“They are intending to sell or privatize these assets,” he warned, emphasizing that this approach prioritizes financial engineering over practical infrastructure development.
Arnold added that the government’s framing of the fund as “tax-free” and externally financed could mask risks for taxpayers and obscure accountability.
He also criticized the lack of preparedness and investment in critical urban infrastructure, noting that inadequate drainage, transport networks, and flood mitigation systems exacerbate disasters.
He noted that the Auditor General had highlighted irregularities, describing the floods experienced recently in Nairobi as a “rain audit” that exposed weaknesses in urban planning and fund management.
He further noted that the use of emergency funds has become a “sustainable business” for those trading in government, with crises leveraged to allocate funds to predictable contractors and suppliers, bypassing normal scrutiny.
Arnold argued that this cycle contributes to persistent mismanagement, with minimal impact on citizens’ quality of life.
According to Arnold, the National Infrastructure Fund, if misused, risks undermining broader investment priorities.
“Infrastructure is capital-intensive, and the way the government is handling this fund defeats its purpose,” Arnold said. “The President wants a pot of money he can access freely, but this approach risks securitization, privatization, and opaque spending.”
Arnold urged a review of the fund, warning that citizens and oversight institutions must resist initiatives that bypass constitutional budgetary and audit processes.
He stressed that infrastructure should benefit all Kenyans transparently, with proper planning, parliamentary oversight, and alignment to investment goals rather than political maneuvering.