Help! Campus life is now too expensive

By Duke Nyankabaria

Basic commodities in my campus are so expensive, and it’s getting worse. You’ll know this when you take your campus babe to a typical restaurant and she orders a milkshake that goes for Sh450, and you only have Sh500. So, you’ll have to pretend to have a flu and order lemon-infused water. And then you’ll find out that the plain hot water with a wrinkly, nearly rotten lemon slice costs a whopping Sh100! Why is this?

Let’s take sugar as an example. It is only in Kenya that a kilogramme of sugar costs more than Sh150. I assume. It is less expensive in landlocked, war-torn countries like Sudan and Central African Republic. For shouting out loud, why is maize flour so outrageously priced in a country that has plenty of arable land? Why? 

I recently went to my favourite restaurant and saw they now sell Kenyan tea, for Sh250. That is the cost of four packets of milk. A year ago, the same item was going for Sh150. A mug of tea now costs Sh250. Why? And the tea isn’t always that tasty. It sometimes tastes like powder milk warmed in the microwave, or like decaying camel milk. 

You obviously guessed that I had to mention rent costs. Rent prices in campus hostels have soared so high this semester. By the way, agents and landlords are masters of extortion. A deposit of Sh7,000 and a monthly rent of the same amount is required before you can move into a good bed- sitter. Then you’ll pay Sh5,000 for good will, Sh2,000 for a water deposit, and Sh3,ooo for electricity. Which millionaire is expected to occupy these single rooms?

And these shoes sold in clean stores. Some shoe companies operating in Kenya have a global reputation. Except for their shoes, which are...how shall I put it? Let’s just say, terrible. As in bad. They are also too expensive. Their shoes are generic and poorly designed, and I’m not convinced they’re made of leather. I don’t see why any rational person would pay Sh4,500 for loafer shoes when they can get nice mitumba ones that can last forever. I acquired my loafers from a hawker on Kirinyaga Road in July 1991, and they are still in good condition.

Last year, a visiting Canadian friend asked me if she could visit a renowned national park near my campus. I took her there only for us to find out that foreigners are required to pay nearly four times as much as locals. While it makes sense for tourists to pay more, my friend couldn’t understand why she was required to pay four times more to see the same things.

She was on her way to Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, and she stated she would try seeing the animals there, or on National Geographic. We went back home to try and find something less expensive to do. This problem is being felt across the country. In the supermarket, you can barely buy anything substantial for Sh2,000. I believe it is high time I finished campus!

Duke is a third-year student taking Political Science at Moi University ([email protected])