Am appalled by poverty levels in our country and am sure many of you are. I feel sad to see homeless mothers and children roaming in the streets of our towns especially Nairobi. When I travel up county the story is the same at least most people there are not homeless, they have shelters they call houses but some are in a state that would make you wonder whether we are in the stone age or what.
This makes me wonder what our leaders have been doing to eradicate poverty, conferences being held on poverty eradication, our political leaders who have launched their visions this year have mentioned they will eradicate poverty, the government talks of eradicating poverty, NGOs etc.....
This is why I look forward to a change of leadership in Kenya that will reduce poverty levels in this country. I long for a Kenya without street mothers and children, this can only be achieved when our leaders stop being greedy and use public funds for what they are meant for.
The government talks of a working Nation, if you work hard you will succeed, those saying they are suffering and don't agree that the economy has improved are not working hard. How will this homeless people work hard to improve their living conditions without the resources?
I believe if they were empowered their lives would be better. The city councils and town councils should build more markets and allocate stalls to street mothers, then the government should lend them some capital through some micro finance to start some business like selling vegetables and clothes. I say this because when hawkers were in the streets it was rare to see street mothers and children, the mothers would be selling vegetables and older kids would sell paper bags for carrying stuff to customers.
Low cost houses should be built for the poor then slums be demolished, how can we still have slums more than 40 years after independence?
Many more other things can be done to erradicate poverty but not mare talks. For this to be accomplished corruption must stop because we have seen houses built meant for the poor like Highrise estate for Kibera dwellers only to be taken over by people who are better of. The same may happen to markets being taken over by the rich pretending to be street families or hawkers.
Please lets help change our country.
7 comments:
You know, I learned something a few years ago in an economics class that if implemented, would completely solve all our problems in Kenya. This philosophy completely changed my thinking.
African governments have all missed it....and that's why even if you were rich in Kenya, the quality of your life would not compare to an equally rich citizen of the U.S. or U.K...
The secret to a great nation with a great quality of life for its citizens is, "COMMITMENT TO UPLIFT ITS MIDDLECLASS". Kenyan politicians are mostly interested in filling their pocket...and not in improving the lifestyles of the middleclass or poor in Kibera, Mathare etc. That's why our President earns 2,000,000 bob a month, and the M.P.'s 875,000 bob a month...while Kenyans in Kibera die of hunger.
Our Politicians are stupid. They think that if they have a billion shillings, they will live happily ever after. How Delusional!! How daft are these people?!? You will NEVER be happy if your neighbors are suffering. Why? Coz if suppose you have saved all your money and bought yourself a nice mansion in Lavington or Kile...if a poor person in neighboring Kawangware needs food for his children, guess whose house they'll break into? Guess whose car they'll carjack? This is one reason why we have such levels of crime in Kenya. People don't grow up wanting to be pick-pockets. People don't grow up dreaming to be car-jackers. Mostly, they're pushed to the corner, left with no options to survive. No options to provide for their children. Our middleclass and poor are so desperate! Desperate for food, desperate for health-aid, desperate for shelter, desperate for a government that cares.
40 years after Independence, and the common mwananchi is worse off today than back in 1963. Like you said, demolishing the slums and building low-cost housing for the poor is one solution. A start to the right direction...but more must be done.
Jobs must be created for the middleclass and the poor. Job creation is the thing to do. Common household products, food...etc, must be comfortably affordable to the lowest paid citizens. A new city of international status must be created in Kenya. We can't have everyone moving to Nairobi. Eldoret, Nakuru, Kisumu, Nyeri...the options are limitless...but we have to re-create Nairobi elsewhere. The new city must be complete with international companies, government services, a transportation system, academic institutions, factories etc. Incentives must be given to redirect the population to this new mega-city.
Great things can be done in Kenya to improve our quality of life. The opportunities are just endless to eradicate poverty. Kenya can be a great country to live in.
God bless the Motherland.Kenya 4 ever!!
~ Gachinga Warima
Kennesaw, Georgia.
Jacob Nasong'o Commented......
Thanks Gachinga Waima. Yuo can make adifference to middle class kenyans while in in the states. Make aliances with community Organizations like Green MOVEGA Community Based Organization E-mail : greenmovega@yahoo.com and fundraise to support thier activities and one day politicians shall live to remember.
Sometimes we need to be realistic,a point driven home is more valueble than a mear talk.For how long will our leaders talk and not do?
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I never comment on blogs, but this one is awesome! Thanks.
I have been a technical teacher and have had the opportunity to travel all over the country visiting institutions and interacting with people.
Many people know the causes of poverty; mainly corruption and greed in the leadership which has become cancerous. Even the very good intentions have always flopped after they are hijacked by the elite who are supposed to be the implimentors and turned into cash cows. Public institutions are almost controlled by barons who maintain a tight grip on them.
when all is said and done, the solutions lie in peaple empowerment through nurturing and developing personal talents and skills, imparting markatable skills and creating enabling atmosphere for participation in the economic welbeing of the country.
I have been a technical teacher and have had the opportunity to travel all over the country visiting institutions and interacting with people.
Many people know the causes of poverty; mainly corruption and greed in the leadership which has become cancerous. Even the very good intentions have always flopped after they are hijacked by the elite who are supposed to be the implimentors and turned into cash cows. Public institutions are almost controlled by barons who maintain a tight grip on them.
when all is said and done, the solutions lie in peaple empowerment through nurturing and developing personal talents and skills, imparting markatable skills and creating enabling atmosphere for participation in the economic welbeing of the country.
The only way to eradicate poverty is to work hard as Kenyans and not expect politicians to change things for us.
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