To tackle poverty let us start with our mindsets

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich at Treasury buildings in Nairobi on June 12, 2014. Taxpayers should brace themselves for increased levies as the government’s spending rises in the next financial year to about Sh2 trillion, up from Sh1.8 trillion. FILE PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • With the high official poverty figures one is constrained to agree with the nay-sayers, although it then behooves us to understand how these two conflicting positions can co-exist in the same population.
  • While economists work mostly with abstract figures based on averages and projections, the lay nay-sayers comment largely from observations in the community and perhaps personal experience.
  • Subjectively, therefore, this ‘rich’ fellow places himself in the same category as the peasant in rural Kenya who only needs fifty shillings for a helping of a local brew.

A while back, after rebasing our economic indicators, Kenya joined the league of middle-income countries.

While technocrats at the Treasury and the Finance Ministry rejoiced and shouted about this development from the rooftops, some Kenyans frowned upon it and argued that there is no evidence of this wealth status ‘on the ground’.

They argued that many Kenyans remain dirt-poor and cannot even afford sufficient nutrition for themselves and their families.

With the high official poverty figures one is constrained to agree with the nay-sayers, although it then behooves us to understand how these two conflicting positions can co-exist in the same population.

While economists work mostly with abstract figures based on averages and projections, the lay nay-sayers comment largely from observations in the community and perhaps personal experience.

National wealth in Kenya is concentrated in the hands of a perishingly small proportion of our population, and most Kenyans subsist on only the bare minimum income.

While it is true that by the sheer amount of national income alone we do qualify to be a middle-income country, it is also true that the majority of Kenyans do not fit into the middle-income category as individuals. This statistic lays bare the extent of income disparities in our economy.

RANDOM CHAT

A random chat with a Kenyan living in a rural hamlet may leave you with the depressing impression that everyone there is dirt-poor. In fact, based on the amount of money one uses in any given period, even the economists will have no problem classifying this individual as poor. However, a closer examination reveals a more nuanced position.

The ‘poor’ fellow owns a couple of acres of land on which he practices subsistence farming. On any given day he will have a supply of vegetables, bananas, and an assortment of fruits from his small farm and homestead.

He might occasionally accost the city-dweller and ask for fifty shillings to buy a local brew, but will hardly ever ask for money to buy essentials such as food. If you ask this fellow how he feels about his wealth, he will say he is poor.

On the other end of the spectrum, the high-flying businessman who owns blocks of office buildings, a home in an exclusive neighbourhood and whose children attend high-cost private schools that are constructed to rival any university campus in this country might also consider himself to be poor.

LOCAL BREW

Subjectively, therefore, this ‘rich’ fellow places himself in the same category as the peasant in rural Kenya who only needs fifty shillings for a helping of a local brew.

And therein lies the explanation for the similarity in economic behaviour among Kenyans. Given the opportunity to preside over national wealth, a ‘poor’ person will try to ensure his own economic security before looking outwards to help others. Since we have tended to elect mostly rich Kenyans into positions of high responsibility, it would be inexplicable to find them looting national coffers for personal gain.

The truth, however, is that looting is more the norm than the exception among our objectively ‘rich’ leaders because they consider themselves poor. If we used the individual’s perception of his own wealth as a measure of behaviour, we might have more success in tackling corruption in high places. No matter the amount of money and wealth one accumulates, poverty, as they say, is all in the mind.

Prof Lukoye Atwoli Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Dean, Moi University School of Medicine [email protected]