On Thursday, July 7, hundreds of Kenyans protested the high cost of living in the East African nation by taking to the streets of Nairobi and going to the president’s office.
The cost of essentials like cooking oil, maize flour, wheat flour, and sugar has allegedly risen in recent weeks, placing pressure on homes who are already struggling to make ends meet, according to the outraged citizens.
If there isn’t enough food for them to eat, the demonstrators even threatened that the country won’t have elections.
According to business capital, some demonstrators who spoke to the media alleged that the issue was not handled by the leaders, leaving them with no choice but to defend themselves.
We are here to demand a decrease in the price of essential items since our elected leaders have failed us and Kenyans are suffering greatly, one of the campaigners stated.
Another protester asserted that the administration shouldn’t attribute the high cost of living to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and that the conflict has only made matters worse.
“We are in this situation because of too much borrowing and the money flows into the coffers of a few,” he said. “Food costs were high even before the issue of Ukraine occurred.”
The protesting Kenyans bemoaned the fact that the two front-runners in the presidential race, Raila Odinga and William Ruto, are only delivering promises rather than actual answers with only 32 days to the elections.
“Ruto has been in administration for ten years and he is also making promises. Why can’t they help us now? Raila is a buddy of the President, so it’s just a phone call away. Yet another demonstrator questioned.
President Uhuru Kenyatta was defended by government spokesman Cyrus Oguna on the high cost of living now being experienced in the nation.
Oguna pointed out that the Head of State is not to be blamed for the situation as he attributed it to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
“It is not fair to put this blame on one person, it is not the President. The war in Ukraine has made things difficult for nations across the globe,” he said, adding that the situation was not unique to Kenya alone.
