[I]In my free time, I roam in Nairobi at night, moving after one entertainment spot after another. It is part of my job.
I have been doing this for 12 years. And now I am deeply afraid. Gravely afraid. Guys, things are not right.
I got home at 1 last night and I have not slept.
Last week, we were at a popular entertainment joint in Westlands on a Wednesday. At 8.51 p.m. there were just the two of us.
Last night the same story. I patronized two joints on Mombasa Road and the places were deserted. Completely.
On a Thursday night. And it is end month. And it is a festive season. Then we went to Nextgen Mall. No 7.
It was empty, only one section of the expansive place was occupied.
Want to know the status of our economy? Look at the grim faces of waiters and waitresses.
This is not mere hating on Jubilee government. We no longer have the government since our leader joined it.
Of course, you have read that the wages have stagnated in the last ten years. People earn less now than they did in 2008.
Ephraim Njenga talked about the recession in the informal sector.
The government hardly cares about the informal sector and often it is the World Bank and white people with a mission who map out the informal sector.
Now, it has been hit by a serious cash crunch. A fishmonger probably sells less fish now than she did six years ago.
Because we stopped caring about Lake Victoria, now we justify importing fish from China.
That is one chain of business totally gone. Maize farmers, sugar cane farmers, coffee, no longer make a fortune from their sweat.
That is for the well-connected individual to import duty-free and sell all the while pocketing billions for 2022.
I can go on. Corruption, the foreign debts, exceptional incompetence in prioritization, have all done a number on all of us.
If Kenya was a European country, people will be living on the streets while others commit suicide.
We were here in the 1990s. Even wore with Aids. The SAPs made Kenyans adjust accordingly.
But in the 1990s, you could actually go back to the village and start over.
But right now how many of you can go to the village and start over? What is left in the village?
What does it mean for you for an economy to shrink right before your eyes?
Share your experiences from your sector. If it is doing well tell us. If bad tell us…[/I]
zamani wale wachache waliokua wanapata kiasi, walikua wanakunywa nawenzao. siku hizi wengi wako nazo, lakini wote ni wachoyo zaidi, ju wanajifurahishia nyumbani mwao ama inje kama kule Dubai, Bangkok na kwingine wasionekane. Hiyo ndo shida yetu leo, si ufakara lkn uchoyo na uhasidi.
People are avoiding popular clubs because drinks are overpriced. Juzi tu nlikuwa Carnivore na chupa moja ya Tusker ilikuwa 350. You cannot increase the price of drinks and still expect the demand to remain the same. Ata kama ukona pesa unaskia uchungu ukinunua chupa moja ya beer 350.
Home drinking is for 2 or four shots as you think what you discussed with guys kwa club. Sio ati unaanza kunywa home at 2pm and by 9 bado unakunywa home
I can’t say the economy is worse off now than before, the problem no one’s talking about is that wages are too low.
Incomes have not kept pace with the cost of living over the last decade. In a way MPs are right to agitate for increase in salaries, 1 million is the new cutoff for a comfortable middle class family lifestyle.
Youth are most affected by low wages; due to inadequate skills, they are unable to bargain for higher salaries. This shortfall in cash will haunt them for many years. They will lose the power of compounding interest. But those are the ones lucky enough to have a job.
My brutal assessment is that anyone saving less than 50k per month (at least!!) for retirement is pretty much hopeless and screwed. Welcome to poverty. It’s that serious…