News that President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto have awarded themselves a 3.9% pay rise have elicited sharp reactions on social media.
The President is set to get a sh56,000 monthly pay rise up from the 1.44 million he earns at the moment while Ruto will be topping up his 1.23 million with around 47,000.
Someone believes that this could be a plot by the two Jubilee boys to win over the public opinion. It is expected that the two will refuse the pay rise in public and Kenyans will shower them with praises.
In March 2014, President Kenyatta promised Kenyans that he will lead senior government officials in taking a 20% Pay cut to free up funds for development. He also said that foreign travel for top-ranking government officials will be limited to only the most essential trips.
“We need to deal with this monster if we are to develop this nation otherwise sooner or later we will become a nation that only collects taxes to pay ourselves,” President Kenyatta said.
It is not clear why he would award himself a pay rise, coming months after forcing Kenyans to pay an 8% fuel levy tax.
Kenyans are complaining about the high cost of living, due to the high taxation and the high prices of commodities. The price of Unga is currently retailing at 120 shillings.
Wanton corruption is also another issue in government. This has formed the background in Kenyans calling for a revolution.
On Monday, activist Boniface Mwangi was arrested from his home for trying to plan a revolution that would lead to civil unrest and bridge of peace.
Uhuru could have read the signs and is trying to calm Kenyans through these salary drama. First Create a problem, then offer a solution.
But will it work? Only time will tell.