INTRODUCTION
Ufungamano Joint Forum of Religious Organisations (U–JFRO) originally known as Ufungamano Initiative includes the main religious organizations in Kenya.
As a forum of religious organizations U-JFRO has been a key player in the democratization process in Kenya and in the Constitution of Kenya review process since 1999. U-JFRO became the stage from where the clamour for a new constitution intensified as it brought together all the major stakeholders including political parties.
In April 2000, Ufungamano established “A People’s Commission of
Kenya” representing a broad spectrum of the Kenyan population to
collect and collate views of Kenyans on the desired constitution. Later
the Commission merged with the government commission
leading to the formation of CKRC. In 2003 the Parliament passed the
‘Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act’ which recognized the Joint
Forum of Religious Organisations as a nominating body to the Advisory
Board of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission.
U–JFRO was registered as a Trust in July 2011. U–JFRO has issued this
second civic education bulletin to provide information and knowledge to
the public in matters of governance and public expenditure in our
country and the Standard Gauge Railway is now one of such concerns.
This bulletin has been prepared with information researched by technical
experts and economists; and U-JFRO is grateful for the efforts which
have gone into this research.
This research highlights that Kenya cannot afford to borrow over KES 300 billion to finance the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway. Borrowing this amount will increase Kenya’s external debt by 30%, push the public wage bill to unsustainable levels and exacerbate
poverty in the country.