By S, KNA
Three years since the Kenya Kwanza (KK) government took office, the economic narrative on the streets is a story of stark contrasts.
For some, the government’s “Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda” has delivered on its promise of subsidized fertilizer and agricultural growth, while for many others, especially the unemployed youth, life is harder than ever.
Across the sprawling streets or a walk through a local market reveals the raw reality.
The official inflation rate at 4.1%, while showing a slight dip in some months, does not seem to reflect among ordinary Kenyans.
High fuel prices, a key driver of inflation, have remained volatile, with taxes contributing to the increased cost of transportation and goods as well. A one-way trip on a matatu, the country’s public transport, has gone up, squeezing the already tight budgets of millions of commuters.
The feeling among the general population is a complex mix of resilience, frustration, and disappointment in the government. For many, the promised “low cost of living” has become a punchline.
“We were promised a lower cost of living and a hustler nation but all we have experienced since is increased taxes and punitive prices of basic commodities,” says Mary Wangechi, a posho mill owner at Wairia market in Kenol.
She says the high cost of electricity and taxes on her business have made it nearly impossible to turn a profit.
For the youth, the promised jobs and opportunities have yet to materialize on a large scale.
Youth unemployment remains very high, with university graduates now competing for menial jobs, if any, and the allure of starting a small business is often crushed by the high cost of capital and restrictive taxes.
Melyne Mwendwa, a 23-year-old IT graduate, who is currently selling 2nd hand clothes (mitumba) at Kenol market, shares how her life has been hard ever since she graduated from campus.
“I graduated from campus two and a half years ago but I haven’t gotten a job since. I had to start my small business to be able to earn a living and help out with bills at home,” she says, adding that she hopes the government will give her a job as they had promised the youth.
“I finished my degree a year ago, and I’m still at home,” says Wachira Gitonga, a 24-year-old Computer Science graduate living in Maragwa.
“The ‘hustler fund’ is too small for a real business, and the jobs they talk about in government seem to be for a different kind of Kenyan.”
This frustration is widespread, with many young people feeling that the government has failed to address their personal struggles.
As the country enters the second half of the Kenya Kwanza government’s term, the feeling on the ground is that of a nation at a crossroads. The promise of a better tomorrow is still far away, but for millions of Kenyans, the present is a daily struggle for survival.
