President William Ruto has asked Kenyans to be patient as he seeks to address the high cost of living.
Speaking to journalists at State House, Nairobi on Wednesday, January 4, the president said the high cost of living was occasioned by high food prices.
The Head of State said subsidising fertiliser, placing more arable land under food production, removing “brokers” in the agriculture trade and temporarily addressing food shortage by allowing imports from foreign markets would help remedy the situation.
“I know that the high cost of living is frustrating every Kenyan,” the president said.
“I told Kenyans that for us to deal conclusively with the high cost of living, we have to significantly improve our food production. A packet of 2-kg bag of maize flour costs Sh190 today compared to Sh230 a few months ago,” said Dr Ruto.
The Head of State suggested that had Raila Odinga, his main rival in the August 9, 2022 General Election won the polls, the prices of maize flour would have gone up instead of reducing.
“If the election had gone the other way, a 2-kg bag of maize would probably be costing Sh300,” said the president, stating that to avert a food crisis, he has allowed for the importation of ten million bags of maize from foreign markets.
