From: Ouko joachim omolo
The News Dispatch with Omolo Beste
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013
Some of you have asked my take on Jubilee government voting to pull Kenya out of ICC and whether the ICC cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto should be a Kenyan concern.
In fact I don’t care who goes to The Hague, whether Uhuru, Ruto, Raila or Kibaki. My worry is what Eldoret Catholic Bishop Cornelius Korir has expressed, that Jubilee coalition leaders should accommodate views expressed by the opposition in order to avoid tribal or regional divisions and conflict among Kenyans.
Bishops Korir put it rightly that the more Jubilee leaders, particularly President Uhuru and his deputy Ruto continue to attack opposition leader Raila Odinga in public the more they plant seeds of hatred among tribes.
Recently Uhuru attacked Raila in public in Kwale when he was issuing title deeds to landless. On his part Ruto has been intimidating Raila referring to him as the man of vitandawili, asking Kenyans to disown him since he cannot make any leadership in Kenya even if he changes constitution hundred times.
Uhuru and Ruto are like the fathers of Kenyans, and by talking hill of some of their children is not healthy at all. They should learn from Kibaki who people thought was coward by keeping silence, pretending as if something had happened from the opposition leaders.
Against the background that in reference to calls for a referendum by Raila, Korir said there was no need for Jubilee leaders to be agitated. According to bishop Korir, if the country’s leadership does not want to remain focused, be sure of distraction.
Bishop Korir instead wants Jubilee government to accept and appreciate dissenting voices because they have a significant role to play in democracy, saying that we must have such people otherwise the country will not be good. It will not be good if everyone is laughing or if everyone is angry at each other.
He observed that opposition creates a balance in society and must, therefore, not be demonized. The bishop made the remarks while presiding over the North Rift thanksgiving service for disciplined officers and their families at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Eldoret at the weekend.
My second worry is again on what bishop Korir refers to as ‘unga’ revolutionary. Bishop Korir had warned that should Jubilee government pass the value-added tax bill (VAT), then there would be unga revolutionary in Kenya.
Korir’s concerned is that by passing VAT ordinary citizen would suffer great deal. This is because, taxing essential goods has a negative impact on consumption because it affects the poor, who have to make choices everyday on what to buy or not.
When the bill was presented in the parliament for discussions, I saw bishop Korir on TV almost shedding tears as he pleaded with Jubilee government to reconsider the bill, saying if they pass it there would be revolution.
Poor Mwananchi is affected because when prices of essential goods rise, consumption is likely to diminish and that ends up affecting production, especially milk farmers.
Already, the VAT on processed milk is coming in the backdrop of a looming shortage that has already seen the price of milk go up by between Sh5 to Sh10. All processed dairy products such as pasteurised milk, fermented milk, long life milk, yoghurt, milk powder, butter, cheese and ghee have been put in the tax bracket.
This burden will be borne by consumers. Higher milk prices will see many consumers stop taking milk or cut consumption, negatively affecting growth of the dairy industry.
A 500 ml packet of milk currently retailing at Sh45 could cost as much as Sh52 or more. There will be a continuous progression of price hikes and the cost of living will go up considerably.
Cooking gas, electricity, exercise books and mobile phones will also attract a 16 per cent tax charge under the VAT Act 2013, signalling that their prices will rise by a similar margin.
Currently, Kenya has a low level of savings mainly because there are very few people who have steady incomes that are large enough to allow for more income other than for survival.
While the salaries of these few workers also have to be shared with other dependants, which further reduces savings, millions of youths have no jobs while millions of workers are living on starvation wages that cannot now enable them to live from hand to mouth.
In fact Kenya is slowly becoming one big prison where millions are threatened with death because there is no food to eat, especially poor Kenyan workers and millions of unemployed youths who can no longer put food on the table.
Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
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Real change must come from ordinary people who refuse to be taken hostage by the weapons of politicians in the face of inequality, racism and oppression, but march together towards a clear and unambiguous goal.
-Anne Montgomery, RSCJ UN Disarmament Conference, 2002