Africa-Press – Kenya. The ongoing war in Ukraine has caused a dire situation in Africa, President William Ruto has said.
“Prices on commodities have escalated and as a result of the war, we have a serious situation of escalating prices of food prices,” he said.
“This has resulted in the high cost of living with very detrimental effects on people, especially those vulnerable.”
Speaking when he and the Romanian president addressed Kenyans on Tuesday, Ruto said the war has also led to Kenya spending money on supporting vulnerable communities.
“We are investing more money and putting more money on subsidised fertilisers among other things. As a content, we believe in a peaceful resolution and early engagement to resolve the conflict in Ukraine,” he said.
Ruto said Kenya believes in the stance of the UN that indicates that aggression against any country is aggression against all countries.
“We are looking forward to a speedy resolution in Ukraine,” he said.
The high cost of living has been experienced across the country with prices of basic necessities like food and fuel hitting a record high.
As a result, consumers have less purchasing power than before.
Kenyans are forced to consume less of everything or reallocate spending.
The government had already sent a clear message about how it will deal with the cost of living.
“My government will lower the cost of living,” President Ruto said on September 13, 2023, after being sworn in.
But instead, prices have continuously skyrocketed at an alarming rate.
Speaking last week during his State of the Nation Address, Ruto said the nation has been living large and way above her means, a situation he said must change.
“We must admit that as a country we had been living large and way beyond our means. The time has come to retire the false comforts,” he said.
Putting an end to the talk of subsidising products like fuel due to skyrocketing prices, Ruto cited counterproductive subsidy interventions as one of the reasons Kenya has been stuck in debt.
The Kenya Economic Report 2023 dubbed ‘Cost of Living and the Role of Markets’ by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis shows the consumer price index hit 7.7 per cent, the highest since 2018.
It is highest compared to 6.1 per cent in 2021, 5.4 per cent in 2020, 5.2 per cent in 2019, 4.7 per cent in 2018 and 8.1 per cent in 2017, breaching the maximum government target band of 7.5 per cent.
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