#lowerfoodprices

Is it just me or have the prices of things suddenly skyrocketed?

Honestly, when did bread become Sh.60? Wenye hamkulangi breakfast, bei ilipanda. It is not just bread but literally, all commodities have gone up. Kenyans on Twitter raised hell, okay I’m exaggerating, and they began and protested under the hashtag #lowerfoodprices. There was a lot to be told and Kenyans expressed their grievances on the sudden and inflated cost of living.

On particular sentiment that startled me is how are the citizens below the poverty line surviving? Sincerely, how are they making due with the current cost of being alive in this economy and feeding their families? Interestingly, the salaries and wages have not risen to mitigate this crisis. How no action is being taken to ease this burden? Oh wait, the guy who asked for your vote to be your MP/Senator and President, vanished and went to secure their generation’s wealth.

Sometimes I ask myself if there is any humanity left in the people we entrust to defend us via legislation. Why are they deaf to our cries and outrage? What I find bizarre is they are also joining in the protest on our side also claiming the prices are too high? Mheshiwa please get into parliament and fix this! Oh wait, it is an election year.

Let me also bring to your attention that it is not only food prices that are unreasonably high but the costs of producing the food we eat as well. From fertilizers, animal feeds, etc. the prices have as much as doubled! The prices have been transferred through that supply chain and thus spill over to Wanjiku.

The cause for this can be attributed to inflation. You may wonder, what in the world is inflation? Inflation is defined as the increase in prices and the reduction in the purchasing power of money. It explains why our grandparents used to buy acres and acres of land at Sh.100 or how once upon a time a kilogram of rice was Sh.9.

As grim as inflation sounds there is a way to beat it. *drum rolls* Investing! Since the government we vote for has abandoned us to our own devices we have to find a way to combat the inflated cost of living. We can do so by investing which is putting your money into a variety of financial instruments such as bonds which give you a return that is above the percentage of yearly inflation.

There are various ways you can invest your money such as:

Investing in stocks

Investing in unit trusts e.g. Money Market Funds

Investing in government or corporate bonds

Investing in cryptocurrency

Investing in yourself e.g. learning a skill that could open a new stream of income for you.

Unfortunately, not all citizens can afford to invest considering all their income goes to paying for their existence and that of their families.

This issue should stir action in all citizens no matter which tax bracket. The government should be awoken to mitigate this issue through policy and relieve us of the burden of living in our motherland.

This being an election year I encourage you to let go of the voter apathy and let us vote competent leaders who can listen to us and alleviate our burdens.

You can invest in yourself at your youthful age by joining the Centonomy Campus Edition and learn various ways to shield yourself from inflation.