Price Shocker!

this past day i got a shock of great proportions. i have been reading in blogs and even hearing on TV about the price increases but i hadn't seen it first hand until i went for my monthly shopping. well first good news first, nakumatt junction was hosting house of grace church in the central 'hall' (for lack of a better word) House of grace church is not your everyday church with tradition ,laws, rules, kanzu and tarban. it is an 'uptizo' church the kind that 'ozones' of the '90s would attend. replete with young suave gentlemen, beautiful girls, great music and very contemporary teachings. the pastor often addresses the issues of the day. the ones that pple would rather avoid eg tribalism, capitalsm, etiquette and such like things.

but even the good church music outside did not prepare me for the price shock inside. most things have gone up. sugar! 150/=. cooking fat by 20% , bread from 25 to 33 thats what? more than 30% meat by another 30% . washing soap, fuel, unga wa ngano, name it. in fact those women who sell chapatis in inda and some construction sites will just close shop. since their inputs have gone up by more than 50% in one month. meaning they must also increase their prices by the same margin. will they get customers given that income hasn't gone up by the same margin over the past one month?

so much for the free primary education, but will the kids go to that school hungry, unclothed , dirty and unhoused? these were the questions one presidential candidate Pastor Pius Muiru was asking on TV as i browsed the supermarket. citizen did me proud again by giving Muiru the coverage even though all the other stations snubbed the preacher. and he did have a large crowd. only that unlike 'wiper', he did not ask the cameramen to take this shot here and that shot there in order to disapprove steadman. However i must say that muiru shocked me with his grasp of the plight of the common mwananchi and his seemingly very practical solutions. why, he posed was it necessary to provide concessions to people who had the ability to build 150 houses? that was like rain falling on the ocean!

as i moved on, i got forcefully involved in a conversation with another man who was equally shell shocked at the price tags. but he had someone to blame. he suggested that the prices have been increased "...kuangusha hii serikali. hawa ni watu ambao hawataki kazi mzuri iendelee!"

anyway, i would understand that the 120% tax on plastic would have caused increase in prices of stuff like bread or sugar due to packaging but i dont know how that makes the price of a kilo of meat to go up.

but all in all, i really wonder how kenyans across the board are making it. these price hikes are simply extreme.