Overspending during primaries by aspirants may have led to high food prices

Never before has the price of essential commodities such as sugar and maize meal been so high. This week, one kilogramme of sugar was retailing at Sh160 while a two-kilogramme packet of unga was going for Sh145.

Three small onions are selling at Sh20, up from Sh10, while a 500ml packet of milk is going for up to Sh58, from Sh45. This is despite promises by the national government that the prices would come down. And as Kenyans continue to suffer, the question is, why is this happening now?

Could it be that some people have engineered this to disadvantage people so they can support their course in the August elections? And while many Kenyans are sleeping hungry, some politicians are bragging about how they used millions of shillings in their campaigns.

Nominated MP Isaac Mwaura said he had splashed Sh29 million on his campaign for the Ruiru parliamentary seat. He lost in the Jubilee nominations. Also, the ODM woman representative nominee for Nairobi, Esther Passaris, said she used Sh10 million.

If just two people used all that money, how much did the tens of thousands of aspirants use in their campaign? The possibility that the high cost of commodities is artificial cannot, therefore, be ruled out and it is high time the government took decisive steps to ease the suffering of Kenyans.

The high cost of living was the subject of discussion during Labour Day celebrations in Nairobi by Governor Evans Kidero, Senator Mike Sonko and COTU boss Francis Atwoli even though no solution seems to be in sight. Cases of mugging are also on the increase due to the harsh economic times. Kenyans will support or reject Jubilee during the elections depending on how it handles this issue.