Youth unemployment and the cost of living in Kenya are not letting up. The recent social protests, though massive, failed to change the economic structure that protects political elites and large corporations. The government's hypocrisy is evident: it raises consumption taxes while cutting public services and offering no formal employment. The solution does not require miracles, but concrete measures such as a minimum wage indexed to inflation and an emergency fund for young people.
Blockchain and fiscal transparency: a tool against elite evasion? 🔗
The implementation of distributed ledger technology could be a means to track tax payments by large fortunes and extractive companies, sectors that often operate with opacity. A public and verifiable blockchain system for recording transactions and tax obligations would reduce evasion. This would allow funding an emergency fund for unemployed youth without increasing the burden on the working class. The technology exists; what is lacking is the political will to apply it against the beneficiaries of the current system.
Kenyan solution: a living wage or more tutorials on how to be poor in style 💸
The proposal for a minimum wage linked to inflation sounds like science fiction in a country where the government believes paying less than a coffee a day is a work incentive. Meanwhile, the elites ask for sacrifice and patience, the same ones they use to count their profits in tax havens. Perhaps the emergency fund should be called you pay, Mr. Minister, because we are tired of being poor with pride.