It seems Jubilee regime has hired the services of Standard Newspaper online edition to manipulate public opinion by running and sponsoring propaganda stories on the cost of living in Kenya.
A stop in several Kenyan supermarkets reveals the government Unga programme has flopped, with supermarket shelves empty, yet the paper is running headlines like “Uhuru lowers Unga costs”, “Uhuru’s subsidy pushes unga price down to Sh90“, “Uhuru for Us” et cetera.
Supermarkets are refusing to stock the subsidized Unga because the profit share seems to have only been negotiated between government and millers. At the price, the retail stores complain the arrangement does not put into consideration their business interests.
This is the pitfall of government trying to regulate and interfere with free market economy to cover up for its failures at production level.
The stale propaganda is sponsored subliminal messaging by Uhuru re-election PR strategists which now seeks to make Uhuru and the Jubilee regime the saviors of a starving country. The Standard Newspaper is partnering in this unacceptable axis of evil by the provision of its platforms to be used to dupe Kenyans.
Notice that most of the stories are sponsored on google, meaning any search on “Unga” first lands you on the Standard Newspaper online pages, where Uhuru praise singing is now domiciled.
Yet, the Unga crisis is not a creation of Uhuru’s bad policies and the Jubilee regime’s runaway corruption that has seen the country marred in major scam after another. As maize shortages bite the country, Kenyans are asking accountability qiestions that cannot be responded to by merely splashing Unga subsidy with a red ‘GoK’ sticker.
In the 2013/2014 FY (Jubilee’s maiden budget), Jubilee allocated Ksh8 billion for on-going irrigation projects; Ksh 2 billion for Agri-Business, Ksh 3.6 billion for Galana-Kulalu irrigation.
In 2014/2015, Jubilee allocated KSh. 9.5 billion towards on-going irrigation projects. This included KSh.3.5 billion for the Galana-Kulalu; KSh.3 billion for inputs subsidy including fertilizer; KSh.2.7 billion for Strategic Grain Reserves.
In 2015/2016, Jubilee allocated KSh 13.8 billion for irrigation, comprising of Ksh 10.3 billion for the National Irrigation Board, KSh 3.5 billion for Galana-Kulalu, KSh 3.0 billion for inputs subsidy; KSh 2.7 billion for the Strategic Grain Reserves.
In the 2016/2017, Jubilee allocated Ksh 20.8 billion for on-going irrigation projects, Ksh 4.9 billion to subsidize fertilizer and seeds, Ksh 1.6 billion for Strategic Food Reserves.
In 2017/2018, Jubilee claimed it has rehabilitated and expanded national irrigation schemes by more than 27,000 acres between 2013 and 2016. It allocated Ksh 4.1 billion to subsidize fertilizer, Ksh 1.3 billion for the strategic grain reserves; and Ksh 0.1 billion for mechanization of agriculture.
The questions : After spending all these billions, how did we end up without food? Where did the money go? What have we been irrigating and what Strategic Food Reserves have we been financing?
Read a more comprehensive coverage on this manipulation here.
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