Kenyan President cuts food costs in half ahead of elections

July 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, announced this Thursday the reduction by half of the cost of food due to inflation and before the imminent general elections in August that will decide his successor in the African country.

The cost of maize flour, used to make Kenya’s staple food, has been cut in half. A 2kg package of cornmeal will now be sold for 0.82 euros ($0.84), instead of 1.73 euros ($1.77), according to the British BBC.

The Kenyan government has stated that it will arrest, prosecute and charge anyone caught selling a 2kg package of maize flour for more than €0.82.

In a televised speech on Thursday, President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered that the cost of basic food be cut in half.

The government is studying how it will compensate retailers who had bought expensive stock before the price reduction was announced, spokesman Cyrus Oguna told the BBC.

Some store owners have not embraced the price changes for fear of losing revenue.

Meanwhile, Kenyatta has promoted his former aide as the new Army commander, less than three weeks from the end of his second and final term.

Major General Peter Mbogo Njiru has been promoted to Lieutenant General and succeeds his predecessor, who is scheduled to retire.

Only one woman, Colonel Ziporrah Kalondu Kioko, has figured among the 20 appointments and military changes announced by the president, will lead the strategic communication wing of the Department of Defense.

In recent weeks, President Kenyatta — who is constitutionally barred from running for president again — has made hundreds of appointments to the appeals court, university boards, government agencies and the military.

The candidates for the Presidency, including the two clear favorites, William Ruto (United Democratic Alliance) and Raila Odinga (Azimio la Umoja), asked their supporters to participate in peace during the electoral campaign with a view to the elections on the 9th of August, compared to what happened in the 2017 elections, which resulted in fifty dead and more than a hundred injured.

Ruto will face his great rival Odinga, at the time an anti-establishment figure, who surprised analysts and Kenyans themselves by forming an alliance with President Kenyatta in 2018.

Odinga chose Martha Karua as his running mate for the presidential elections, while Ruto has chosen Rigathi Gachagua, who was an adviser to Kenyatta between 2001 and 2006, as his vice-presidential candidate.