Can the poor stand up and be counted?

It is so hard to find one rich man in pain with a satisfied mind. The Bongo Flava generation may not know it but these are lyrics from a song by Porter Waggoner.

He says that money can’t buy you youth when you’re old, or a friend when you are lonely or love that has grown cold. According to him, “the wealthiest person is a pauper at times”.

Despite such words of encouragement to the poor, world leaders are determined to reduce poverty by half in the next seven years and plant the seeds of prosperity in every village and town. They believe that if you tackle poverty first, all the other things will be added unto you. Which is a good philosophy no matter how you look at it.

The only challenge comes when it is time to decide who is poor and who is not.

If you have been following the news lately, you might have heard that a group of MPs from Nyanza have blocked the Planning ministry from releasing a report showing the distribution of poverty across the country.

The MPs happen to have seen the report before everybody else and they are not happy with the findings. According to them, it has been doctored to show that poverty is declining in Nyanza.

Until recently, that part of the country was only better off than North Eastern Province, arguably the driest and most needy part of the country. Never mind that Nyanza exports fish worth of Sh4 billion every year and is home to the third largest fresh water lake in the world, which is also the lifeline of the land of the pharaohs.

The MPs have refused to be satisfied with the findings which show that their constituents are doing relatively well financially and their pockets are getting deeper. According to them, this is a ploy to ensure that the region does not receive its fair share of the national cake.

But this is not the first time that reports on poverty levels have caused dissatisfaction.

Before 2002, there appeared to be a general agreement that 56 per cent of Kenyans were living below the poverty line. No. That is not the equator or some other imaginary line on the map. It is an indicator by the World Bank and other people with loads of cash that politely describes people who live on less than Sh70 a day.

Last year, there was an uproar when the then Planning minister, Mr Henry Obwocha, said that the number of the absolute poor had been reduced to 46 per cent. Politicians were supposed to have clapped for him but instead, he only got brickbats and was accused of doctoring the figures.

Even Kabete’s Paul Muite protested, saying his constituency had been ranked as “the least poor” and not the richest.

Although all the politicians agreed that the economy had grown, they also said that a few people were feeling the benefits. It had not trickled down to the masses. So there was no way the number of poor people would have gone down.

It must be that the scientists and demographers employed by the Planning ministry are using the wrong tools to measure poverty or they are blind. There can be no other explanation why their findings are being greeted with disbelief.

So, who is poor and who is not?