Hard times put a damper on hopes for a better life for most Kenyans during 2024

Migori,

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

KNA by Marion Obuya and Janemolly Achieng’

As people ushered in the New Year in style in various parts of the country, Joshua Chacha Onyango, a shop owner in Migori Town, said he never found anything worth celebrating. The 42-year-old comic man notes that he is only grateful for life and nothing else.

Onyango says, he is torn between entertaining hopes for a big difference between 2023 and 2024, the New Year that just began two days ago.

Chacha says he has kept his fingers crossed with hopes of seeing great success in 2024, only if the promises made last year either by politicians or anyone else are likely to be fulfilled.

“I look forward to seeing the government work extra hard to uplift the economy devoid of corruption, then we will have something to celebrate,” Chacha stated during an exclusive interview with KNA.

He blames hard economic times that characterized the year 2023 on many things driving various business systems into jeopardy, constricting people’s social lives to the lowest ebb, and inculcating immorality in many Kenyans.

For instance, most of the unemployed youth have been forced to resort to robbing others with violence as a means to make a living. This has led to increased insecurity along the streets. “Kenyan urban streets aren’t safe anymore” he added.

Also, there are several cases of early pregnancies and an increase in early marriages in the country. This is because parents are not able to raise school fees for their children due to the high cost of living hence they end up dropping out of school and subjected to a dismal life thereafter.

“Schools are reopening next week, most of them would not report back,” Chacha stated categorically.

The government should look deeply into the issue of unemployment amongst the youth and this can be achieved through creating more job opportunities for example” kazi kwa vijana”. Otherwise we hope things will turn around in 2024,” concluded Chacha.

Like Chacha, Walter Kisiegro, claims that Kenyans will plunge into the worst economic hardships this year unless the government moves to reduce the prices of fuel which has a ripple effect on all businesses and cost of agricultural inputs.

“Kenya can do better economically because it has enough resources and educated men and women who can turn around the current hard economic situation to a better one,” says Okeyo adding, “but because we lack that spirit of loyalty to the Constitution and the immoral life our leaders want to cling onto forever, we are doomed to fail to make 2024 a better year.”

Caroline Owuonda, a grocery vendor at Rapogi market says she has made no projections nor targets to achieve this New Year because she knows she will not be able to raise enough money to undertake any owing to the ever increasing introduction of new taxes by the government.

“Let’s not cheat ourselves that this year and the coming years we will be in a position to undertake any meaningful projects in our lives. The high cost of living is skyrocketing every day because of the heavy taxes the government is imposing on the people every other day,” she lamented.

Courtesy; KNA