They are woken up by a strong foul smell, amplified by the poorly ventilated tiny single room house, the sewer is overflowing into the house, not again! But this is the least of their worry, the daily challenge is to at least provide one meal a day for the family of five, regardless of the ugly face of unemployment. Accessing clean drinking water here is a struggle not to mention using of washroom is a luxury. This is just a glance of what life at Kibera can be. Just a few kilometres away, the remains of the previous night’s delicious supper has to be disposed off to create room for fresh ones. The hot weather is an indication that the kids will find it necessary to cool off in the huge swimming pool filled with crystal clear clean chlorinated water. They don’t have to do any house chores because the two house helps got the 4-bedroom mansion covered. The life in Karen is all comfy. The disparity between the two neighbouring place is too bold to ignore. This is the state of the nation.
The gap between the poor and the rich has stretched to its widest levels since time immemorial. Economic inequality also referred to as the gap between the poor and the rich, wealth disparity or income inequality consists of the differences in the income and wealth distribution. Typically the term, the gap between the poor and the rich refers to inequality among groups and individuals in the society. The gap between the poor and the rich is related to the concept of equity: opportunity equality and outcome equality.
This is something that is not visible to the majority. The pace of productivity growth is rising in my country (Kenya) and also in other African countries. However it is only lifting fewer boats. This growth is only enjoyed by the haves but not the have-nots. The rich or the wealthy are becoming richer and the poor, poorer…Why is this the case? Yet the national economy is recorded to have improved greatly. According to the IMF and World Bank reports, Kenya has seen a significant economic growth, the question is, has life gotten any better for the common citizens?
The major factors that we can identify that has contributed to the growing gap include; poor governance, no political good will, poor policymaking and implementation, leaders, culture, education, inadequacy of the elite role, globalization, labour markets, policy, taxes reforms, technological changes, un-employment, ethnicity, nepotism, racism, gender, inequality in salaries and wages, high taxes, exposure, adamant on adapting to life changes, lack of information among others.
It seems bizarre, that we, the so called “modern, intelligent and advanced civilization” are yet succeeded in solving the disparity between the poor and the rich. We are enslaved by the above mentioned factors, the irony of a civilized society. Will we ever transcend greed?
Our Leaders are known to be rich, only in very few instances if not none that a poor person is elected or nominated as a leader. We choose leaders who do not understand our problems, what is the plea or needs of the common “Mwanainchi”. We elect a leader whose interest is addressing the needs of his fellow class. Majority of our leaders use their position to enrich themselves, protect their interests and those of their colleagues, creating policies to protect their wealth and make them even wealthier. Until we finally accept and appoint leaders who truly and genuinely have their citizens’ interests at heart, then that is the time we will start reducing this gap.
Our government has been taking loans around the world. For this reason therefor, high taxes are imposed on the citizens to pay these loans. Increasing taxes on daily today basic commodities has made them very expensive to purchase. The increase in cost of living result into the poor becoming even poorer. The government should resort to a sustainable model borrowing and also effectively utilize our own resources. The loans taken should also be properly utilized in activities and projects which are wealth creating by promoting socio-economic activities in the country. Huge sum of loan money is lost through corruption thus increase in tax burden is without any thing worthy to show for. Countries like United Arab Emirates are doing better economically, because of zero tax in most of their products.
Unfair distribution of resources is a norm in our country. Regions like North Eastern register almost zero development rates. How do we expect such regions to perform economically? It is obvious that they will not develop economy if they are not allocated enough resource to match their demands. At times we are fooled with bogus projects (poor infrastructure) like substandard roads and bridges like Sigiri bridge in Budalangi which collapsed even before being in operation. Such rip-offs of public funds contribute to increase in poverty levels.
Our education system standards in not completive enough in the current market. It focus so much on exams scores and grades rather than knowledge and important skills acquired. This has led to poor productivity, because we are not trained to practice but drilled to impress. Which is only reflected on the papers but not in the real field. We are not given the exposure required for people to be creative and inventive enough to meet the demand of the standard set in the global market. Majority to not get the chance to nature their entrepreneurial skills necessary to start business and creation of wealth in the society. Those who enjoy such exposures are the rich, who are taken to the best schools. Where they are offered the best when it comes to education and opportunities.
Tribalism, nepotism and racism bring about discrimination and favours. Job opportunities are given based on relations instead of merit. These vices cuts a lot of people out, who end up either unemployment or underemployed. The rich families tend give jobs, contracts and opportunities amongst themselves to keep the wealth within the families, regardless of competency levels. For such reasons therefor, the less privileged regardless of their skills will be most likely discriminated against. As per the Kenyan norm, getting a job means you must know somebody of influence or know somebody who knows somebody of influence, then you’ll get the job without following the right channels; interviews become a formality not a necessity.
We have insisted on cultures which do not give equal opportunity to all in terms of empowerment. Females are restricted on what they are supposed to engage in. Educating a single woman means educating the entire community, this is due to the great influence a woman can have in her community if empowered. Denying women equal opportunities lead to untapped potentials hence reduced productivity. The conservative nature of some people in various Communities such as the Maasai, Samburu, Pokot, Luo among others, are adamant on adapting to new ways of life and economic activities which are competitive in the current market, away from the traditional techniques of pastoralism and fishing for instance. It is important to be innovative and employ the modern technologies to improve our living standards. Unlike a few people in these communities who are able to explore different ventures and opportunities for economic empowerment. We are raised in such a manner that we limit the establishment of the balance between personal growth and community growth. We concentrate more on developing the community and forget about our own personal development. Hence we end up less or not economically empowered..
Politics has direct influence in the economic statues of a country. This begins with poor and unsustainable policymaking by the government with little or no national economic impact. Misplaced proprieties by the government to invest on projects of less importance rather than investing in sectors like agriculture, health, manufacturing and IT which have a great impact on the economy. Poor governance leads to misappropriation and mismanagement of public resources which would have otherwise been used to improve living standards. These vices have manifested themselves in County governments, which was initiated to bring about devolution. Devolved government was to bring government services and resources closer to the common citizen, but what it has brought instead is corruption closer to the people. The chain of corruption and cartels has exponentially increased with devolution, more public resources are being embezzled. The devolved governance which was meant to alleviate poverty is doing the exact opposite, increase poverty at the benefit of a few individuals.
The rich and wealthy people are secluding themselves, they are limiting themselves to the number of people they mentor. Transfer of knowledge is important in continuity of expertise in the society. Successful business people, competitive lawyers, engineers, diplomats, doctors, teachers, politicians and many others, should take it upon themselves to support and mentor young professionals which is important for national development. Strive Masiyiwa, a London based Zimbabwean businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, the founder and chairman of global telecommunications group Econet Wireless and Kwese Sports, is known for mentoring and supporting (financial and moral support) innovators in his home country with the objective of improving living standards and eradication of poverty.
Judging from the statements of Henry George, American Political Economist, ‘’ No person, I think, ever saw a herd of buffalo, of which a few were fat and the great majority lean. No person ever saw a flock of birds, of which two or three were swimming in grease, and the others all skins and bone.’’ Shows that the wealth disparity is a human creation, ironically the most advanced and civilized organism in the planet, yet driven by greed. I am compelled to believe that we really do not understand what being advanced and civilized means, we should learn from the animals.
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