Tuesday, May 3, 2011

High Cost of Living in Kenya

The move by Government to remove excise duty on basic commodities like kerosene, maize, wheat and cutting fuel prices is much welcome. However there is still very little impact on the prices in the shops. Kenyans are mostly affected by the cost of our main food Maize meal (Unga); just two month ago Unga was Kshs65 now its Kshs100 this is a very big margin compared to most people’s income. Public transport has also become a big burden to Kenyans, it seems like this sector is not controlled by the Government. They have hiked fares due to rising fuel prices but the problem is the fares are not constant; they keep raising the fares as they please making life more miserable for Kenyans. The Government should stop these PSVs from exploiting Kenyans.

Workers left Uhuru Park (the venue for Labor Day celebrations) disappointed by the offer from the Government. I knew they could not give a 60% salary increment as COTU Chairman had demanded. COTU Chairman Atwoli and Lawyer Muite expressed their disappointment at Senior Government officials especially the two Principals for not attending the function. As usual Atwoli gave a strong speech condemning the Government and threatening mass action if the Government does not go by their wish. I just thought he’s lucky to be a Kenyan, if he was in the land of Kaguta Museveni he would be roughed up immediately and jailed without trial.

Lack of adequate rain this season is also a major set back to Kenyans and we just hope for a miracle.

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