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There's a Deeper Level to this Conversation: As You Tear At Each Other About Who's Sponsoring the Gen Z Protests, or Even if They're Sponsored at All, Watch These Three Videos and Let Me Know What You Think...

The Legacy of Fear: How the Shadow of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Shaped Kenya's Political Landscape In the annals of Kenya's political history, the events of 1969 stand out as a defining moment marked by fear, coercion, and manipulation. The political tension surrounding Jaramogi Oginga Odinga's candidature led to a series of oath-taking ceremonies in Gatundu that forever altered the fabric of Kenyan society. Understanding this historical context is crucial, especially when contemporary politicians attempt to invoke these dark chapters for political gain. The Fear of Jaramogi and the Birth of the Gatundu Oath The roots of the infamous Gatundu oath can be traced back to the fear and propaganda surrounding Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, the former vice-president and then-leader of the opposition. By 1969, the political landscape in Kenya was charged with tension. The assassination of Cabinet Minister Tom Mboya on 5th July 1969 had already set a volatile backdrop. Within this context, Pr...
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Coming Soon: SAPs on Steroids

Kenyans, brace yourselves. Because God has spoken, ready yourselves for what is probably the worst economic crisis in the history of our country:

  1. Fuel subsidies are going to be fully eliminated by the end of September 2022. What this means is that our government will no longer protect its people from the vagaries of swings in the international price of oil. What then, is the role of government if not to protect its people from shocks, of which oil price dynamics are some of the most consequential?
  2. Electricity tariffs will have to increase (via subsidy removal) and the IMF wants the government to publish a plan for doing this by December 2022. This is going to cause pain among our people.
  3. Value Added Tax (VAT): The IMF wants us to "broaden our VAT base" which is just a euphemism for limiting the number of goods that are VAT exempt. The VAT is one of the most regressive taxes in the world because it impacts the poor much more than the well-off. Because of this, governments often exempts many products from VAT to protect the poor. The IMF now wants us to do the reverse and do so in quite a drastic way.
  4. The fertilizer subsidy to go before 2025. This means more and more families will be food insecure.
  5. Reduction in corporate taxes. Who owns those corporate businesses? Your guess is as good as mine.

The conditions are incredible, unbelievable, heartless and basically make for very depressing reading. Meanwhile, China has also this month waived loan interest for African countries but have excluded Kenya from that list.

Before I sign off, I would like to address the civil society, who went along for the IMF ride, appearing in numerous photo ops with IMF staff, and largely gave credence to the opaque process that gave birth to this anti-poor deal. This, my friends, is on you. You went to sleep at the wheel when your role was—and historically has been—to protect the interests of the people, especially the least among us. Posterity will be the judge, and I wager that the judgement will be harsh.


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