Inequality in Kenya

The driving force behind me applying for this program "The Politics of Global Inequality" was learning about the poverty cycle in Tonga- through politics. But after being accepted, I found out it was not one of the country options available to research in this course. I didn't ask my professor for this option because I know Tonga is only a period on the map compared to other enormous countries who are in severe poverty- even worse than Tonga. So I continued knowing I can study the politics of inequality and draw parallels to my homeland. My plan for now is to finish graduation at UC Riverside, and move to Tonga to learn more about my culture and Tonga's politics. It's a long stretch, but I'm in it for the long run :)

Today, July 21st, 2014, in class we watched a documentary on Kenya. Kenya is the country I am researching inequality in.

A glance at Kenya: -population is 44.35 million -located in East Africa -major health problems: HIV/AIDS, malaria, and waterborne diseases -president: Uruhu Kenyatta of the National Alliance -natural resources: coffee, pyrethrum (pesticide), corn, sugar came, and many more -gender inequality- ranked 130 out of 148 countries worldwide (2012) -unemployment about 12.5% I have further measures, but don't want to complicate the overall picture.

One thing to know about Africa overall is that it is a natural resource RICH country, but one that suffers the most extreme poverty. People live in slums that do not have the basic sanitation and water resources a human should have. It is known in Kenya that people scrape by with living under ONE dollar A DAY!

Now, where does the international community play a part in this? As I am in Geneva, meeting with different organizations who work with Kenya, there are a lot of international efforts to uplift the living standards in Kenya. The United Nations (UN) for example provides technical assistance, and its counterparts (UNEP/UNDP) even provide financial aid. But why is Kenya STILL suffering from poverty??? It all comes down to domestic institutions within Kenya- who are infamous for high-level corruption.

When aid is provided to Kenya, most of that money does not trickle down the sectors and make it to the hands of those who need it the most. Billions of dollars given to help poverty ends up in the wrong pocket! $2 million has been given to Kenya to help patients with HIV/AIDS, but still, there's not enough vaccinations and adequate health facilities with proper necessities for any patient. HIV/AIDS is still an ever-growing epidemic. But, what's interesting is that administrators have said, "Corruption is a two-way street". Accusing developed countries to be a part of the corruption. The downfall of this is that there is actually no proof. One Kenyan woman who was beaten by police (even left in a coma) for speaking out said that corruption at the high levels leave no footprints for anyone to follow. It has been witnessed, but it is almost impossible to get hard evidence. It's bad enough that even law enforcement (police) are corrupt. Bribes are becoming a daily activity and if it's not taken, some people may be arrested up to 4 times a day.

One case that was shown in the Kenya documentary we watched today followed a kid named Dennis Oyoo. This 12 year old boy took care of his 2 year old sister and his younger brother while his mother was in the hospital for HIV+. His dad passed away because of HIV/AIDS. With him being the sole care taker of the household, his family lived by means of less than $1 a day. He and his siblings lived off of rice. Every morning he'd get his brother and sister up at 5am to bathe and get ready for school. After, he'll take his brother to school, then drop off his sister to a daycare. Then make his way to school, Little Rock elementary. His teacher reported that there were some days he didn't make it to school, but in his circumstances, it was understandable.

One of the UN Millennium Goals is to provide FREE primary education to all children of the world. Money has been donated to help Little Rock elementary, the school that Dennis attends. But the teacher reported that 30% of those funds were kept in officials pockets. Eventually, the school kids seen very little of that money. School is still being paid for.

There is a lot of distrust in Kenya's government. But what I understand it to be- they lack a solid, trustworthy human infrastructure. Kenya has not trusted to invest in their own people and their own skills and abilities to build a future for Kenya. I thought that aid was something Kenya needed, which is true. But with this poverty cycle only being perpetuated by the Kenyans themselves, I see why the United Nations and it's counterparts are so vital in providing technical assistance. The UN, IGOs, NGOs, WHO, WTO, and many other international orgs, are providing the necessary tools that upon Kenya's discretion, they may use to create a better political institution that'll implement a better economic institution. Or even vice versa. This comes with a package of policy recommendations and policy responses, but what I've learned so far is that no matter how perfect a policy may seem for a country, it is up to them whether they want to interpret and execute it.