It is sad - DP William Ruto decries the high cost of living in Kenya

Deputy President William Ruto has decried the high cost of living that has seen the prices of basic commodities shoot up.

In a post on his Twitter handle, Ruto expressed his disapproval of the runaway inflation in the country.

“A packet of Unga is now retailing at a historic price of more than Sh200. It is sad. Millions of Kenyans are burdened by the high cost of living because of failure to put in place interventions such as farm inputs subsidy that could allow farmers to produce enough to eat and surplus for sale,” he said.

Deputy President William Ruto during a past campaign rally Pulse Live Kenya

As of June 2022, the price of cooking oil had also risen to close to Sh500 per litre while the price of fuel was at Sh159 for petrol.

With a Sh1,000 note a household can only buy a litre of cooking oil, a 2kg packet of maize flour, a bar of soap and a 2kg packet of sugar, not even enough to fill a shopping bag.

On Tuesday, during the Nairobi Economic Forum in Karen, organised by civic society, the UDA presidential candidate stated his intention to establish a revolving fund to help low-income households.

“As Kenya Kwanza, we will work with Sh30 billion, a quarter of what they proposed to use, we will target 2 million households that are today in food deficit. We have done the calculations. We just need between Ksh15,000 – Ksh18,000 to be able to provide enough input for one acre,” he said.

Deputy President William Ruto during a past campaign rally Pulse Live Kenya

Ruto added that his strategy of addressing the cost of living and empowering low-income households was superior to his rival Raila Odinga’s plan to grant cash transfers.

“Every Kenyan spends 52% of their income on food according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics report, if we bring that down to 35% or 40% even by 10%, we will do a lot of saving for us to spend in other areas,” he said.