Causes of Poverty in Kenya

Introduction

Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Many states all over the world

undergo the state of poverty, especially the African countries Kenya being among the list. A majority of

Kenyan population is living below the poverty margin which is under one dollar a day. According to

various statistics, particularly the central bank of Kenya states that the number of Kenyans living hand to

mouth has majorly increased from about 30 per cent to 50 per cent. Besides, a large number of Kenyans

are extremely poor having their income being too little to maintain their lives. Instead, with it they mainly

manage to put food on the table but not improve their living standards, Lack of jobs, bad leadership in

government and unequal distribution of resources among the people are some major causes of poverty in

Kenya today.

Lack of Jobs or Livelihood

Kenyans, precisely the youths are unemployed despites the fact that many have gone to school and

even graduated. As a result, they end up being frustrated mainly due to the little income they get at times

or having no jobs at all. Unemployment promotes poverty because there is no money to promote the

living standards. Consequently, there are many social immoralities like stealing and usage of drugs which

encourages the state of poverty. On various occasions, Kenyans get to do odd jobs that enables them to

get little earnings but at the end of the day it is only enough for feeding not improving their state.

Bad Governance and Leadership

Bad governance and leadership has seen a lot of wastage of public resources in Kenya today. As a

result of this, the level of corruption has gone extremely high. This has led to the embezzlement of public

funds that could go a long way in eradicating poverty in neediest areas of the country. The poor leaders in
office do not bother to fight off the corruption in the system considering they are involved in it. They

work hand in hand to embezzle the public funds at the cost of Kenyans, especially those without a voice,

for example the aged people; thus promoting poverty in Kenya.

Unequal Distribution of Resources

Unequal distribution of resources means that the facilities meant to be shared by all persons are not

distributed fairly among the Kenyans. For instances, centralized counties, such as Nairobi and Kiambu

tends to get the largest share of governments support. This is done at the cost of decentralized counties

like Turukana and Mandera. Due to this action, humans from these counties remain poor. As a

consequence, fundamental services, for example health care and education do not get to them as required.

On this account, poverty in Kenya is promoted since there is inequality sharing of what is meant for all

Kenyans at large.

Conclusion

From the discussion above, poverty is really not a new phenomenon in the world today, especially in

Kenya. As a result, Kenyan government ought to work hard to eradicate it. This can be done by taking

consideration in areas like employment where there should be more job opportunities. Chances need to be

created for the people mainly the youths so that they can get employed. In addition, systems need to be set

in place for the elimination of corruption and by so doing, the bad leaders will be removed in power

reducing poverty.