Eric Omondi: Why I became a beggar on the streets of London
Top Kenyan comedian turned activist Eric Omondi has shared why he recently went to the streets of London to beg for money.
He began by noting that government officers often went abroad to beg and borrow for money on behalf of Kenyans but the money was never seen or felt in the economy.
“That is why I said that if they borrow, we will also borrow but when we do, we will come and buy flour for people. I went there and begged, I got Sh 340,000 and I came back to buy for some people flour and laptops. When they fly out to beg, we will also do it. In fact I am about to embark on a tour called Woiye, Please Tour; and Australia, Canada and America will be at the top of my list, just going there with open hands to beg. ‘Please help us, we are poor. We don’t have money, we are dying. See, this is Shakahola, they’re dead. No food’. They should come and colonize us because it was better then because people are dying due to no food,” began Mr Omondi.
He said Kenyans must begin going abroad to show the world that they are not doing alright in their home country, and embarrass the Kenyan government because of high taxes, lack of education and costly fuel.
Last week, Eric Omondi uploaded a video of himself panhandling on the streets of London. Seated on the ground beside a sign on which he’d written ‘things are very bad’. He had been on a tour of Europe following a top Cabinet Secretary’s claims that he sponsored an American tour for the comedian seven years ago but now regretted it because Eric has been slamming the government on their proposed tax policies and high cost of living in the country.
It was in light of this that Eric flew to the United Kingdom ‘just to show’ the Cabinet Secretary that he is financially independent and does not need anyone’s sponsoring.
For the past few months, Eric Omondi has been on a one-man crusade in calling out the government for forcing new and increased taxes on Kenyans who largely lack jobs to meet their own needs. He has on a number of occasions been spotted protesting on the streets, actions that have led to a number of arrests and parading before court.
“As the pioneer and champion of the #DontTaxContentCreators I am happy for the win of 5% instead of 15% but we still ask the government to do Zero Tax on them and In fact invest money on them for at least one year,” said Mr Omondi four days ago on the move to tax content creators after weeks of campaigning against this.
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