Ekonomik Sitcheeyation

Food: Teachers and newspapers agree Kenya has a food shortage, one that appears will get worse before better. The main ingredient for flour, maize (unga), is at an all-time premium. In Nairobi, protesters stopped downtown traffic and blocked PM Raila Odinga from entering his office. The marchers held signs and wore hats saying unga=30Ksh. If such a thing exists as national character, it is embodied here. Rather than request free food, or overthrow of government, folks unite around bargaining price for wholesale grain. Raila addressed the crowd, attempting to blame the high prices on factors beyond the government’s control, namely weather. After the crowd screamed back “No” in unison, Raila put his fist in the air and yelled “Harambee!” (freedom), hoping to be echoed in kind by a crowd full of people otherwise identified as Raila followers. Instead, the crowd responded with “Unga!”
Kenyan newspapers go on to detail how much of Kenya’s governmental grain reserves were sold for profit by politicians. Needless to say, such grain money didn’t channel back into the federal budget. Millions of maize kilos remain, but the government seems content waiting until the crisis reaches more of a full-on famine, so the stored maize is worth even more when unveiled.
On the other hand—with restaurants, street grillers, fryers, market fruits and veggies, dinners dat skool pay fo, dinners which “stress” other students on the program concerned the food will go to waste—I’ve never seen food cheaper for foreign buyers.

Oil: Gas (petroli) prices are high. As. Shit. 4 dollars a gallon would be a sizable reduction in price. I guess sustaining 3 wars in the Middle East isn’t an option. Way more people say they walk than they did before ’08. Muthafukas walked everywhere in 08. With even the beloved matatus proving too expensive for many to ride, more people are burning more energy to get to work each day on foot. As a result, they must eat greater portions for their meals each day, thereby compounding the food shortage.

Electricity: Goes kaput here and there. Ocasionally, outages are forewarned. Is in high demand, according to many authors of market forces indicators (journalists, editors at African Busi ness magazine, for example). But many know it is dispensable most times of day in Mombasa and don’t get too worked up about it. My night vision cockiness soars / AC ain’t indoors / so sweat pours from da pores.

Technology: You can buy a phone and a line for under thirty dollars, and call the U.S. at anytime for 3KSH a minute (approx. 4.5 cents a minute). Some globalization going a positive direction. With M-PESA, a creation of Kenya-run Safaricom, Kenyans no longer form lines into the street in wait of banking services. Instead, their phones are their banks. They store and send money in small computer chips, “SIM” cards.