African Woman and Child Feature Service

The taste of the economy around the world is taking unprecedented turns that could have devastating effects on the poor masses who form majority of the population.

Today the world is walking towards marking the seven billion mark in its population. However, the economy is not working well and the political leadership lies divided within political lines.

Looking at the debt crisis debate currently going in the United States of America, where I am currently visiting, Kenya comes glaringly to mind as I wonder what will happen to us middle and low class as prices escalate to an immoral level.

Immoral indeed is what US Vice President Joe Biden described a suggestion to raise the tax burden for the middle and low income earners. His sentiments were echoed by President Barrack Obama using the very same words immoral.

This is what I have been gathering from the news channels here and I must say the media here has not been drawn to their political affiliations on reporting this. The tax burden would definitely fall on their shoulders because as far as I know, there is no journalist who is rich. They must take a sober approach in interrogating the debt burden and how the government is tackling it least they find themselves not having played the role of taking economy managers to task.

The White House wants to close loopholes by encouraging that the burden of tax falls on the shoulders of the rich.

This then paints the picture of what is going on in Kenya where legislators have been having a good time of living a tax free life while the rest of Kenyans suffer in ensuring they earn their exorbitant salaries.

Immorality is actually what defines the situation in Kenya where the middle and low class are suffering with increased prices that are already beyond reach.

Immorality is what describes legislators who do not pay taxes for inflated salaries while the rest of the people suffer under the burden of tax.

Immorality is what can describe hoarding of or non-availability of staple food such as maize and flour.

In January the price of a two kilogramme packet of unga, maize flour that forms the stable food was only KSh60. Today, it is bordering on KSh150 which would have made $2.5 if the exchange rate was KSh70 which it was in January. Even with the crazy prices fears that even with money people may not get unga, borders nearer to immorality.

However, the value of the shilling has gone down and it is now at a level that has never been seen before in the country’s history.

If the value of the shilling keeps going down, and immoral it shall be, then prices will keep increasing because most goods are pegged to the dollar. This will have nothing to do with oil prices.

It is important that media houses through their breakfast shows, and other segments that allow for discussions as well as commentary and analytical pages, interrogate the state of the economy by taking to task those charged with managing the economy. We must not allow our politicians to play politics with the economy which is already seeing many homes going on if available one meal a day or none at all. We must not allow immorality to consume our moral and ethical standards of ensuring that food is available at affordable prices.