OBSTACLES TO POVERTY REDUCTION

OBSTACLES TO POVERTY REDUCTION

Towards the end of last year Kenyans received some good news. The Kenyan economy moved to low middle level income status. This was achieved earlier than expected considering it was expected to take effect in 2030. This meant more employment opportunities and improved living standards. Fast forward to march 2015, the situation is even worse.

Here are some of the reasons that can be attributed towards the failed poverty reduction. At the top is the restricted growth to urban places. The scenarios of urban areas being favored in terms of development at the expense of rural places have been heard or seen. Many are left wondering why they are being marginalized when it comes to sharing the national cake. Rural places have poor road networks as compared to urban places thus bringing disequilibrium.

High population growth rate that exceeds the available resources is also to blame. Currently there is an annual change of 2.7% in terms of population. According to the census report, in 2009 Kenya had a population of 38.6 million people. Comparing that with the 2014 population estimates, Kenya has about 44.4 million people. This makes the government o strain in offering services to her citizens.

Mismanagement of resources is another key hindrance. Development funds are embezzled in broad daylight. Have you not heard of impeachment threats from various counties? We now have what is referred to as devolved embezzlement of resources thanks to the devolved system of governance.

The setting of goals should be long term for effective implementation. In Kenya the story is different. Even the millennium development goals are short term to align with the political calendar. In the end a lot is planned for but little is achieved. Did you know Kenya has one of the best blueprint development plans? We only fail in implementation part because we over focus on short term goals instead of being strategic thinkers.

Poverty will remain part of us unless we prioritize where to invest. Politicians invest their precious time fighting over titles. What is in a title? The sacred cow projects are launched with the end results being disaster. Public funds find storage in some greedy individuals who do not have interest of public welfare. We should invest in education and infrastructure as this will increase literacy and ease communication respectively.

Finally is revenue redistribution, the area that interests politicians and investors the most. Every august house member fights for his/her region to get a large share of the national cake. Why fight for what you have not worked for? In the end it becomes a competition on who is smarter to influence biased redistribution of revenue. In the end the core objective is overlooked.

In conclusion all the above causes of failure to eradicate poverty such as growth restriction to urban areas, high population growth and resource mismanagement should be countered. Kenya has changed status so should living standards improve by eradicating poverty. “Kick poverty out of Kenya…”