Why we, as a nation, must address high prices of unga
For the last four years, our nation and the Horn of Africa region at large have experienced unexpected low rainfall, resulting in drought, poor harvests and crop failure in some parts of the country.
This situation has been compounded by other preceding disasters, including a desert locust invasion in 2019, the effects of Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, and the disruptions in the global supply chain of food and farm inputs, following the Ukraine-Russian war.
As a result, the number of vulnerable households in Kenya has increased tremendously, and the cost of basic food items has risen beyond the reach of many families.
Faced with such a challenge, the moment requires us to act swiftly and decisively to cushion the vulnerable.
Today, and borrowing from our experience in managing previous challenges, I want to squarely address the question of cost of living.
I want to focus on the ethical behaviour practiced by the three key entities that have a duty of care for the people of this republic.
First is the corporate citizens and their social ethical practice—entities like maize millers; second is the political class and the civic duty required of them; and third is the government and the social responsibility it is required to practice.
Every election in this country has attracted an unga crisis. In fact, there seems to be an engineered connection between elections and the high prices of unga. There is an obvious trend between the manner the price of unga goes up and the tempo taken by the election. Why do I say so?
In July 2012, months before the March 2013 election, the price of a packet of 2kg of maize flour shot up from Sh70 to Sh130.
In May 2017, three months to the August election, the price of unga shot up to an unprecedented high of Sh189. This was the highest price experienced between independence and 2017. This crisis was used as the fuel that powered the ambitions of certain members of the political class.
Today, weeks to next month’s election, the price of unga has shot up, again. It has moved from an affordable price of Sh100 to Sh205. So the national question we must pose from this trend is this: Is it a coincidence that we have ‘unga crisis’ just before every election? Is this the result of a market dynamic or is it a deliberate outcome? The question must be posed and put to rest.
In posing this question, I will return to the three entities charged with the duty of care for the people of this republic with respect to the price of unga and its curious relationship with elections.
Let me begin with the maize millers. Like every citizen of this nation, they have rights and responsibilities as corporate citizens. They must enjoy their market rights to make profits, but they must also exercise a corresponding social responsibility to the people. Even whereas the increase in price is also affected by drought and other external factors, their motivation for profits must be tempered by a reasoned level of social ethics.
I say so because the making of profits and ethical corporate citizenship are not conflicting ideals. They are in fact complementary. You can make profits and exercise responsible business practices. If unethical practices result in instability during elections, the biggest loser is not the ordinary citizen. It is the corporate citizens and their investments that suffer.
And because the government cannot legislate a culture of corporate responsibility and that we cannot police the social ethics of corporate citizens, I implore them to see their role as a partnership with the people and their government.
Now I will turn to the political class and how they manipulate the ‘unga crisis’ every election for political mileage. It is shocking to politicise the misery of the vulnerable. But it is more distasteful to gain political capital out of the sufferings of the vulnerable without offering solutions.
If my appeal to the millers is to practice a reasoned level of social ethics, my appeal to the political class is to exercise civic responsibility. To politicise the pain of the vulnerable without offering solutions is to mock the lifestyle of the same voters the politicians are appealing to.
The partnership between the corporate citizen and the political class must benefit the people. And if it breeds misery like the high price of maize every election, then the voter has a duty to put an end to it.
— The writer is President of Kenya
