Poverty in Kenya: A Sorry State of Affairs
About 83% of the Kenyan population is considered to be generally poor. However, about 50% (close to 20m) of Kenyans live in extreme poverty- i.e.- below the poverty line. Kenya's poverty as in all other countries of Africa is "artificial" in that its not born out of natural causes such as lack of resources. Kenya has abundant resources both natural and financial, as well as vibrant human resourcefulness. However bad governance has created mass poverty in Kenya. Chronic corruption, a strange breed of greedy leadership, wastage of public resources and lack of a leadership that is genuinely committed to development has been the whole mark of Kenya's public sector. Despite Kenya being a Third World country, its President earns more than what the US President earns. Kenya's elected leaders earn as much as Ksh. 3million (about CAN$38,000) per month yet majority of Kenyans earn less than $1 a day. Over the past years the Auditor General has indicated that almost 40% of Kenya's revenues cannot be accounted for properly. The recent figures of taxes whose whereabouts is unclear stands at Ksh. 330billion per year.
In addition, recent report stated that our private companies are forced to pay bribes before getting the services or the goods that they need. They are forced to spend a total of Ksh. 69 billion annually to fight bribery attempts or navigate the torturous system in their interaction with public sector. This explains why Kenya's private sector grows so slowly, and unemployment and poverty continue to rise in Kenya. The above cash would have employed 600,000 Kenyans at a pay of about Ksh.10,000 per month. Overall, corruption costs Kenyans over 2million jobs per year.
The Good Governance Team that hopes to form the next Government will eradicate corruption within months. It will eliminate extreme poverty within 5 years.
Courtesy of www.lakecountrynow.com