Why Kenyans Might Be Poorer Every Time a Budget is Read

Yes, the budget might actually be the well of poverty! But why kenyans might be poorer?

“The economic Pillar of Vision 2030 targets a 10 percent growth rate per annum that was to be achieved in 2012 and sustained to 2030. However, this target is unlikely to be achieved and poverty reduced unless deliberate measures are taken.”- from Keeping the Promise: Budget Options for 2014/15 and the Medium Term. In Kenya, an ordinary Kenyan happens to be the poor Kenyan.

A common mwananchi adopts the same tag because he is, or he is thought to be poor. Ironically, Kenya has never been ranked amount the top poorest countries, not only in Africa but also in the whole world. If the nation is not poor, in absolute terms, why should its loyal citizens should be trapped in a web of poverty? Are the systems ok? Are the people doing things in the right way? Is the society over-expectant? Is the government over ambitious? Are our priorities misguided? These are questions that every concerned Kenyan thinks about at one particular time.

In most cases, this is a theoretically relative situation but it tends to become absolute in practical sense-people without a meal per day, shelter or basic human needs. Economically, poverty can be quantified using statistics, where it can be defined as anything below per capita of a country. These are people whose salary is capped on the minimum wage, regardless of their productivity. The poor in this statistics are the ones who live in total uncertainty-they don’t know about the next meal or cannot access basic health, education and other essential services. And what really brings poverty that courts attention? On the other hand, poverty has been blamed for insecurity, corruption, illicit alcohol, drug abuse and negative ethnicity. This is a clear indication that poverty has a deep and lasting influence on the well-being of a nation.

Unless there is consistent balance in the rate at which the rich are getting richer and the one the poor are getting poorer, there will always be a wide gap, which will only make ‘the poor, poorer and rich, richer’ status as a commonplace. In real sense, our country will end up becoming like Brazil, which has the highest gap between the rich and the poor. In Africa, South Africa tops the list. This happens because of an ideology called complementary schism genesis. This happens when the poor fear to be poorer and the rich fear to become poorer and for this reason, no one cares for the other-capitalism rules. It becomes survival for the fittest race. When the annual budget is read, it becomes a commissioning for some people to strategize on how to milk the nation.

There are people who don’t know what constitutes a clean deal because their mind has been coated with noise and pollution from corruption factory. The resources, services and goods fail to reach the populace. This is why you should not be surprised that there was bumper harvest in some regions in our country but people (especially in arid areas) are dying of hunger. The media is very keen to focus on these because they make the news more ‘attractive’. A nation that is led by selfish and corrupt people who can’t spell out the word ‘integrity’ won’t be moved forward by big budgets. A budget can only be favourable if its agendas are directly linked to the people or the people charged with the implementation are individuals who are dependable and incorruptible. If a nation does things in the wrong way, there is no way the right results will be realised.

Systems must be made to work. We don’t want to see instances where people are still begging the political class to come to their aid as if it was a privilege. In most instances, it is their responsibility to change your lives for better-not by giving you easy cash when events or disasters occur. The standard of living for a nation can evenly be raised if the systems are in place and in working condition. Most of our systems are already impaired and that is why the ordinary Kenyan is going round complaining and taking every lie from the government of the opposition as a renewed gospel truth. If you think deeply and with openness, you will realise that our security system is not working properly.

For this reason, people have lost jobs from the hospitality industry. The owners don’t want envisage a single drop in profits; the easier precaution is to cut costs. In the process, some people will end up being overworked to cover the workers who have been sacked unceremoniously. Ultimately, they will have to get a house maid who will consume what they were to save. Our education system is not in order either. Our health sector is not in the right shape. The poor tend to be disregarded in most of these places since admission to some of the best public institutions (colleges, hospitals, schools, parastatals) are pegged on what you can put in the envelop. This I have witnessed! How do we expect to the bright and intelligent students from poor backgrounds to reach to the apex, from where they can bring a new face to their families.

There is need to revive our conscience and make sound deliberations as Kenyans before we embark on the budget process which is a continuous one starting with planning to evaluation of results achieved. When the poor (at least who struggle to get the basic needs) are ignorant of their rights, duties and responsibilities, they will end up fighting within themselves along tribal, religious and political affiliations. They end up becoming puppets for the leaders who think only of the next general election rather than the next generation.

The nation cannot develop when there are incubators for hate speech, scandals, misappropriation of funds and neglected accountability. I have never understood how KShs 300 Billion can be lost in one year in the public sector. This is scandalous! Who knows what that amount of money can do to a nation? How many schools, hospitals, colleges, roads, factories or jobs that can be created from such a figure? Anyway, I remember, it was only that the expenditure would not be supported sufficiently. What happened to the report from the committee formed! Kenyans, we are good at letting go and moving on as if nothing had happened. The budget is usually defined as a tool of growth and development but it can never replace the real stuff that needs to be done using the resources it avails.
No matter the size of the budget, the live of a Kenyan will depend on the collective responsibility of the leaders, citizens and our relationship with extended stakeholders. Perpetual complaining will not heal our economy; consistent patriotism and ‘uwajibikaji na uungwana’ will. Doing the right things in the right way for the right reasons is what integrity advocates for. The common good that comes with the national budget will only be unlocked by this. We, Kenyans, must change, improve or step up our way of taking action and co-existing as one nation or else, we will become poorer every time a budget is read.