The reality of crippling and endemic poverty in Kenya

[cheekbusta]

In a departure to the usual Ruto mbaya threads leo nawapea economic analysis of one of the major issues affecting Kenya. Poverty and inequality.

If you look at this stats and considering that Nairobi is by far the wealthiest county in Kenya yet 70% of households (not people) have an expenditure of less than 50k. In Nairobi over 60% percent of residents live in slums. Most of those people are not engaged in reliable work ni vibarua wakijaribu kusurvive. Nairobi ni number 1 lakini this is how things are.

Bonobos wanaeza sema watu kuna magari na buildings kubwa but think about it like this. What if we took away government headquarters, diplomats, multinationals, NGOs, elites from other countries and counties from the Nairobi economy unabaki na nini? What is the real size if the indigenous Nairobi economy. And this is the best Kenya has to offer.

Another piece of evidence is this below

Prof Ndung’u: We've very strong evidence that economic recovery has started, but a fragile recovery

Prof amesema 20 years of poverty reduction efforts have been erased by Covid and draught of 2022. That means in relative terms Kenyans are just as poor and unequal as they were in 2005. Na bado Ruto and his gang of thieves are implementing progressively worse policies that increase poverty and inequality. Increasing the cost of living and reducing social safety nets.

And the craziest part is No one Cares. Not the leaders or even the people experiencing these things themselves. Nobody. Elders kujeni tuchambue hizi mambo.

[Gaines]

1. I don’t think 3.5% of households in Nairobi spend 184k or more. Hapo I have serious doubts. I don’t even think 3.5% of households earn 184k/month let alone spend.

2. It’s dumb to gauge socioeconomic class based purely on household expenditure amounts because practicality also matters. How do you define a household? A household spending that 184k will have a worse quality of life (e.g if they have 4 kids and a senior living with them), than a bachelor without dependants spending 100k. The number of dependants matters ALOT not just the absolute sum of their expense.

3. Lastly, I partly agree that for a typical family of say 2 parents, 3 kids, and a househelp, you will need about 200k to live decently in Nairobi. That means a 4 bed+ DSQ, 2 decent cars, educating the three kids in decent (not expensive ones) private schools, going out once in a while, etc.

[cheekbusta]

@Gaines

…) private schools, going out once in a while, etc.

My aim was not to get the exact figures, it was to paint a picture of the staggering poverty in Kenya and how it is not being tackled effectively. Mkenya wa kawaida anaishi hali duni zaidi.

[Gaines]

@cheekbusta

…ectively. Mkenya wa kawaida anaishi hali duni zaidi.

That is a personal imperative gathee. Nobody will ever wake up and decide he wants to make @cheekbusta 's life better. Hapo ni wewe na Mungu wako, bidii yako, na akili zako.

First, you have to realize that it is very hard to escape from poverty and contrary to what people have been brainwashed to believe, most people are born poor, live poor, and die poor. That’s the cruel game called life.

In the end it is upon you to audit your life, and develop your plan of escaping the matrix. Na hii sio kitu local, it is global!! Hata America watch enough documentaries utaona there are millions of peasants there who have to flip burgers in McDonald’s at 70+ years old. Some work 3 jobs bruv just to pay rent.

Inequality is the natural state of human existence so the only thing you should focus on is how you will personally escape from the treadmill and that often means riding other people’s backs e.g owning a property and letting the peasants spend a third of their entire paycheck paying you.

[cheekbusta]

@Gaines

… most people are born poor, live poor, and die poor.

I never said any of these relates to me. Mimi niko sawa lakini what about the millions of your fellow countrymen who will wallow in poverty for their entire existence. People will kid themselves that kama mimi niko na pesa niko sawa but it is only partially true. When systems don’t work even the rich are affected.

[Gaines]

@cheekbusta

… When systems don’t work even the rich are affected.

If you are not a politician or a bureaucrat, its not your job to worry how the masses are doing. Your only job is to vote wisely and after that, the politician makes those decisions on your behalf. That’s what representation means. You delegate your power to politicians at the ballot box.

[cheekbusta]

@Gaines

…elegate your power to politicians at the ballot box.

It is your job if you plan to make informed investment decisions.

[mpendakazi]

@Gaines

…)

1. Lastly, I partly agree that for a typical family of say 2 parents, 3 kids, and a househelp, you will need about 200k to live decently in Nairobi. That means a 4 bed+ DSQ, 2 decent cars, educating the three kids in decent (not expensive ones) private schools, going out once in a while, etc.

Nimekubaliana na wewe kila kitu hadi kwa hii point. you can live decently in Nairobi with a household of that size, with under 200k. You don’t need a 4bed dsq. Hata 3bedroom tosha. Kuna wengine wako parked in a two bedroomed if the children are of the same sex.

You do not need two cars. If your family commute plus residence location is strategic enough, one is more than enough. Heck kuna wengine ata hawana gari, although having one is cheaper, overall.

Hapo kwa education ndio it has hit me, we really fucked up our public schools system. Back in the day, we all went to public schools and turned out ok. Private school was for expats na ma dwanzi… ata prestige haikuwa nayo kabisa…

Saizi bila deep hunt for a cheap private school mahali utatumia 45-60k per kid per term, all inclusive, wewe kwisha.

To think that finance bill 2024 is going to collapse this delicate balance most families are making in order to survive in nairobi, and other urban areas, it is surprising me mbona hakuna mass riots hata saizi… the audacity of it all is crazy…

[bra_bra_cupship]

Kenya shida watu wengi ni bongolala. And copying each other in making money

Mediocrity in doing shit is also a problem. Kuna agencies ngapi local that are serving external markets and getting hailed for it?

[Gaines]

@mpendakazi

…s riots hata saizi… the audacity of it all is crazy…

If kids are sharing bedrooms, that’s surviving, not living decently. I didn’t say that you need to spend 200k to survive…I’m talking about living decently. So, its important to clarify before you guys start to misinterpret me.

I know that you can survive on much less than that.

[RV_Pundit]

@mpendakazi

…s riots hata saizi… the audacity of it all is crazy…

Kuna possibility ya mass action kesho pale bunge and it could spread

[cheekbusta]

@bra_bra_cupship

… serving external markets and getting hailed for it?

These issues are systemic, if there is no money in the economy whatever business you open is going to have a hard time. That’s why people try to do what seems to be working.

[bra_bra_cupship]

@cheekbusta

…hat’s why people try to do what seems to be working.

Kenya Rare Earth Minerals
Kenya holds massive potential as a top rare earth minerals producer after the discovery of deposits worth $62.4 billion. Mrima Hill, in the coastal county of Kwale, has one of the top five rare earth deposits in the world. This region also contains niobium deposits projected to have a value of $35 billion. This is the largest mineral deposit in Kenya and the find at Mrima Hill will make Kenya one of the largest rare earth producers in the world.

The Kenyan government will earn 3% royalties from the nobium project and five per cent from the rare earths mining. Under the Constitution, 80 per cent of these earnings will go to the central government, 15% to Kwale County and five per cent to local residents.

A global scarcity of rare earth in a market largely controlled by China has kept prices high, with Japan, which accounts for a third of all global demand, hard-hit by scarcity and looking to diversify its supply sources. Cortec, which holds the mining licence for Mrima Hill, has also confirmed a deposit of 680 million kilogrammes of niobium, held in 105 million tonnes at 0.7 per cent niobium pentoxide.

The global demand for niobium, used to strengthen steel, is rising rapidly, with Mrima Hill now positioned in the world’s top six deposits. Kenya is poised to join Tanzania as a rare earth supplier. In March, Tanzania announced the discovery of lower grade deposits within the Wigu Hill Rare Earth Project located 170 km south-west of Dar es Salaam.

World demand for rare earth elements are estimated at 136,000 tonnes per year, with global production around 133,600 tonnes in 2010. The difference is covered by previously mined stocks. Although many of the rare earth metals are not necessarily rare to find — some are more abundant in the earth’s crust than lead, gold, copper or platinum — they often exist in very small concentrations, making extraction difficult. And because of their similar chemical properties, rare earths tend to clump together, usually with radioactive elements such as thorium and uranium, making separation complicated and expensive.

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Uzuri jambas and the other takatakas aren’t concerned with the country. Tuko na resources, they just don’t need plundering. They will remain uncovered mostly, until the right time is perfectly aligned.

[mpendakazi]

@Gaines

…
I know that you can survive on much less than that.

Hizi standards zako, ni kama ungepewa hiyo kazi ya Finance minister you would have also come up with an unrealistic expectations and budget.

African kids have been sharing bedrooms as a norm, since forever. Nakumbuka wakati hussle ilijipa nikajenga pigsty, the kids all moved into one bedroom eti it’s more fun to sleep together na wanaogopa kuishi separate rooms. That is how I got myself a home office/study. Infact they prefer to share bedrooms upto perhaps around later years of teenage wakati wanagundua kunyonga.. hehehe

Anyways safi lets not digress, survival to you can mean thriving for someone else. It’s a culture thing.

[Gaines]

@mpendakazi

…ean thriving for someone else. It’s a culture thing.

Shida yenyu hukuwa kumisinterpret mtu so I have to repeat 1009 times that najua you can survive on much less than that. Kuna tofauti ya decent living and surviving. Most people survive. Kuniambia maneno ya sharing bedrooms only shows hukuelewa comment yangu.

Kids sharing bedrooms, sharing one car with your spouse, not having health insurance, etc is surviving…not decent living. Comprende?? There is nothing wrong with surviving only that you fools are mistaking surviving for decent living.

[mpendakazi]

@cheekbusta

…hat’s why people try to do what seems to be working.

Exactly my thoughts as well. Kenyans open businesses not to fill a gap in the market but for desperation to earn an income and not lose their capital. hii capital unapata pia it’s hardly enough, for the biz and has to be returned from where it has been obtained with crazy interest.

Hakuna vile mtu kama huyu atakuwa na time ya kufikiria mambo market research, ya niche, gap in market etc, you stick to the tried and tested which is copying your neighbor, sometimes to disastrous results…

[cheekbusta]

@Gaines

…you fools are mistaking surviving for decent living.

Sasa kama mambo Nairobi ni noma hivi sasa mashinani kuko aje? People are still living the same way they did since independence.

[mpendakazi]

@Gaines

…you fools are mistaking surviving for decent living.

As always your problem is always trying to project your ideas of what surviving versus decent priviledged living should look like to others. Na hiyo ndio kawaida unapatanga headwinds nayo hapa… I got you at your first comment, keep repeating basi. if you wish, but you are the dumber for it.

[Gaines]

@cheekbusta

… mambo Nairobi ni noma hivi sasa mashinani kuko aje?

Mashinani ni double edged sword. Its cheap to live there but its also hard to make money there. So you have to weigh the options.

[mpendakazi]

@bra_bra_cupship

…d mostly, until the right time is perfectly aligned.

hizi ndio vitu ukiskiza museveni vizuri itakuuma sana… So you find something in your house/Land and for you to extract and sell it, you only get to keep 3% of its value.

Why cant we sell it by ourselves and keep the 93% they take the 3% ?