Poverty bites as Kenya turns 43

‘We did not attain independence to have a country of ten millionaires and ten million beggars’. This famous quote came from the former populist Nyandarua North MP, J.M. Kariuki, shortly before he was assassinated in 1975. He made these remarks to condemn a culture of property grabbing that was emerging among the leaders in post-colonial Kenya. But as Kenya marked its 43rd independence anniversary on 12 December, his words have come back to haunt the nation, as the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen.

Nothing illustrates this better than a report launched last November by Kenya’s Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Titled, Geographic dimensions of well-being in Kenya: who and where are the poor? the report chronicles disparities in wealth distribution among constituencies. According to the report, the richest constituencies are in central province, while the poorest ones are to be found in Nyanza province, which has poverty levels of 65 per cent. Nationally 14.4 million Kenyans or about 60 per cent of the population live below the poverty line.

Whereas Poor education, skewed development funding by the government and the pressure of large populations are given as some of the causes of poverty, political patronage is also to blame. Central province has had two presidents since independence while Nyanza has been associated with opposition politics. The semi-arid and arid North-Eastern province with poverty levels of 64 per cent, has been neglected by successive governments since the Shifta war of the 1960s, in which area residents wanted to secede to either become an independent state or join Somalia.

Kenya’s road to independence was long and tortuous. The struggle began soon after the establishment of a British protectorate in 1895. On the night of December 12 1963, the union jack was lowered and the black, white red and green Kenyan flag proudly rose to flutter in the winds. Thus, Kenya finally got her independence, with a multi-party political system and a two-chamber Legislature – the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The post-colonial government first addressed itself to grievances aired during the struggle for independence. Through ‘Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965 on African Socialism and its application to planning in Kenya’, the government laid down development policies aimed at correcting regional imbalances and removing poverty, ignorance and disease.

But forty-three years later, poverty eradication, the legacy and impact of the colonial government in Kenya, including the impact of tribal politics still remains a challenge. Ironically, it is the same sessional paper, whose key architect was none other than the current president, Mwai Kibaki, that is being blamed for massive inequalities experienced in Kenya today. Sadly, 41 years after the adoption of policies outlined in the paper, the country’s wealth is only concentrated in one region – central province. A thorough analysis of the paper shows that its architects cleverly inserted clauses that ensured that the country’s wealth would remain in the former white highlands, a move that has resulted in one of the world’s highest gaps between the rich and poor. Notably, the Paper categorized Nyanza and North-Eastern provinces as low potential areas requiring little government attention.

It was for this reason that the then Vice-President, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in 1965 castigated Kenyan leaders who were using their positions of influence to buy huge tracts of land for themselves and their families, ignoring thousands of the landless. ‘The war now being waged against Kenya by the imperialists is worse than that of the pre-independence struggle’, he charged.

Yet upon independence, Kenya was economically at par with Malaysia, Egypt, Israel, Hong Kong and Portugal. World bank reports say that if Kenya had sustained its economic performance of the 1960s, it would today be in the same league with Jordan, Argentina and Portugal.

But it was the 1975 World Bank Country report that really showed Kenya was on track. The report titled Kenya – into the second decade noted: ‘Kenya is now in the second year of its second decade as an independent nation. Behind it lies a record of sustained growth in production and income that has rarely been surpassed by countries in Kenya’s stage of development’. Today, with the economy growing at a rate less than 5 per cent, though government claims a 5.8 per cent growth rate, that report would sound too good to be true.

Kenya’s economic growth began to experience a downturn soon after former president Daniel arap Moi came to power in 1978. At that time, the economy was growing at the rate of 5 per cent per annum. But in 1981, the “World Development Report” showed that economic growth had slumped to 2.7 per cent.

Things, however, took a nose-dive after the 1982 coup attempt. There was a heavy flight of capital, as investors became restless. It is also during this period that politically correct individuals started siphoning out money and stashing it in secret accounts.

In an unprecedented purge, Moi sacked a number of competent individuals deemed to be anti-government and replaced them with sycophants. While investment stagnated, the civil service became bloated, with the number of employees increasing by 6 per cent between 1982 and 1987.

But the single financial event that has had far-reaching impact on the Kenyan economy is the Goldenberg Scandal of 1990 to 1993. In its basic form, Goldenberg involved export compensation for fake diamond and gold transactions. While the amounts that were involved are yet to be determined, Kenyans are still counting the cost.

Findings from a commission of inquiry appointed in 2003 by President Kibaki indicate that in one facet alone, some KES13.5 bn ($1.8 bn) was shelled out to Goldenberg International – a firm jointly owned by an Asian tycoon Kamlesh Pattni and former Director of Security Intelligence James Kanyotu - from Central Bank, purportedly to purchase the accruing foreign exchange.

The situation was exacerbated in the early 1990s, when Kenya’s relationship with the key multilateral institutions took a nose dive, after more than two decades of cordial and beneficial relations, which began soon after independence in 1963.

Kenya’s first collision with donors occurred in November 1991 when the Paris Club suspended most forms of external aid following the government’s failure to implement major political and economic reforms.

The suspension was however lifted in mid 1993 after former president Daniel arap Moi yielded to pressure from the international community and re-introduced multi-party politics and introduced sweeping economic reforms ranging from the removal of price controls, liberalisation of domestic and international trade, as well as restructuring of public enterprises.

But the relations were to be strained again in 1997 following the government’s failure to tackle corruption. This led to the suspension of vital donor aid, which was briefly lifted in July 2000, only to be reinstated in December the same year following the government’s disbandment of the Kenya Anti-corruption Authority (KACA).

Consequently, GDP growth rate stagnated at around 1 per cent, while neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania on the other hand registered impressive growth rates of between 6 and 7 per cent.

What cannot be gainsaid, however, is the fact that over the last 43 years the economy has enjoyed good spells as well as turbulent times. The year 2002 was considered the worst, with the economy growing at a measly 0.4 per cent. In 2004 it grew at 4.3 per cent and is projected to grow at 6 per cent this year, thanks to a boom in the tourism sector and improvement in agricultural performance.

Unfortunately, the economy’s growth potential continues to be hampered by the high cost of production occasioned by poor infrastructure and escalating cost of power and fuel. But the government is not about to give up. Over the last three years, promotion of industrial growth has been a top priority. Notably, tax incentives, including waivers on capital goods have been introduced. In last year’s budget, the government also abolished some 17 trading licences to simplify the licensing regime and reduce the cost of doing business.

It is also hoped that the recent launch of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), for which the government allocates 5 per cent of its revenue every year, will help alleviate poverty at the constituency level. Yet, any gains made never trickle down to the common man due to bad governance. A report released by Transparency International last October ranked Kenya among the 20 most corrupt countries in the world alongside the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the war ravaged Somalia.

But it is the political path that has been more rugged. At independence, the main parties were the then ruling Kanu fronted by the late founding president Jomo Kenyatta and James Gichuru, and the opposition Kenya African Democratic Union (Kadu) fronted by the late Ronald Ngala and former president Daniel Moi.

In 1964, however, Kadu dissolved with a view to fostering national unity. Its members joined Kanu and the two-chamber legislature merged into a single National Assembly in 1966. But following differences between president Kenyatta and his Vice-President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga formed an opposition party, Kenya People’s Union (KPU), which Kenyatta subsequently banned in 1969.

Hence, from 1969 to 1982, Kenya remained a defacto one party state. However, following the attempted coup on Moi’s government by disgruntled Kenya Air Force soldiers in1982, a law was hurriedly enacted, making Kanu the only legal political party.

But following the collapse of the former communist bloc and pressure from donors, Moi allowed the reintroduction of pluralism in 1991. To date, Kenya is a multi-party state with about forty registered political parties. Multi-party democracy, however, did not come easily. Cries of ‘Not yet Uhuru’ (Not yet independent) became rampant after 1982, when Kenyans felt oppressed worse than they were in the colonial period. Moi’s torture squad rounded up suspected coup plotters, tortured them at the infamous Nyayo House torture chambers and subsequently detained them without trial.

To buttress the squad’s actions, the political establishment and the security apparatus invented a nondescript underground movement going by the name Mwakenya (Mzalendo wa Kenya) – Kiswahili for a Kenyan patriot. All the victims rounded up allegedly belonged to this underground movement whose existence remains a mystery to date.

The torture squad’s targets included politicians, radical university lecturers and student leaders and lawyers who dared represent the perceived dissidents. It was also during this period that the government curtailed press freedom by proscribing any publications deemed to be supportive of opposition figures.

The quest for political pluralism in the early 1990s – which marked the second liberation in Kenya - also saw the detention of politicians, lawyers and human rights activists. Although Moi finally yielded to pressure and reintroduced multi-partism, those supporting the opposition paid dearly.

In the run up to the 1992 and 1997 multi-party elections, politically instigated ethnic clashes – targeting opposition sympathizers – rocked the country, leaving 800 people dead and 130,000 homeless.

The country’s forty-three years of independence have also witnessed political assassinations never heard of even during the colonial period. The real plotters of the assassinations have never been arrested to date. Assassinations began during the Kenyatta era and progressed under the Moi regime. In 1968, Pio Gama Pinto, a Kenyan freedom fighter of Goan descent and a close friend of Jaramogi, was killed in cold blood outside his house.

The country was in mourning again in 1969, when charismatic Kanu secretary general, Tom Mboya, was gunned down in a Nairobi street. In 1975, populist politician Josiah Mwangi Kariuki was murdered and his bullet-riddled body dumped in Nairobi’s Ngong forest. Then come 1990, the then foreign affairs minister Dr Robert Ouko was lured from his home and later murdered. Described as the best foreign minister Kenya has ever had, Ouko was murdered soon after returning with Moi from a US trip. So far, only one political assassination – that of the chairman of the devolution committee at the constitutional conference – Dr Odhiambo Mbai, has been recorded during the Kibaki administration.

In the forty-three years, the country has had three presidents and 9 vice presidents. When Kenya attained independence in 1963 and became a republic a year later, a select group of elite political leaders from Kenyatta’s home district of Kiambu emerged to stake out and claim a rare closeness to the president. Four years later, this cabal of politicians had already acquired the dubious distinction of being referred to as the “Kiambu Mafia”.

Thus, from 1967, a Gikuyu (Kenyatta’s tribe) cabal centred around Kiambu district remained at the centre of power. Sadly though, this group undermined Kenyatta’s nationalist and populist background, alienating other ethnic groups as well as many non-conforming Gikuyus. This same group tried to amend the constitution to bar Moi, who was then vice-president, from succeeding Kenyatta in the event of his death. But in 1978, Kenyatta died in office and Moi, with the help of the then Attorney-general Charles Njonjo, ascended to the presidency. Moi ruled for 24 years and handed over power to Kibaki in December 2002 following Kanu’s defeat. Both Moi and Kenyatta resorted to detention without trial to silence their critics while Kibaki prefers to call his detractors wapumbavu(stupid people). Like Kenyatta, Kibaki is also surrounded by a cabal of ministers from his home region, derisively referred to as the ‘Mt Kenya mafia’.

Compared to its neighbours, Kenya has enjoyed relative peace since attaining independence, surviving two attempted coups. The first coup attempt came in 1971 but was nipped in the bud and its ring leader, Maj Gen Joseph Ndolo forced to resign while 12 soldiers were jailed. The attempted coup was occasioned by rumours to the effect that the government wanted to amend the constitution to allow for the position of a prime minister. Though the coup never took off, it gave Kenyatta a chance to purge the military, by abolishing the position of chief of defence staff. Force commanders henceforth reported to him directly as the commander- in -chief.

But the real shocker came in August 1 1982. Disgruntled Kenya Air Force soldiers, under the command of senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka, staged a coup lasting six hours. The coup plotters were later annihilated by the Kenya Army, under the command of Major-General Mahmoud Mohammed. More than 200 civilians, half of them university students, died. Military casualties were not made public. Ochuka and his accomplices were later court-martialled and hanged.

Even as Kenya celebrates 43 years of independence, one accusation just wont go away. The country has earned the dubious distinction of ignoring its freedom fighters. A number of them, including those who were detained alongside Kenyatta during the state of emergency in 1952 have died poor. They are Bildad Kagia, Kungu Karumba and Paul Ngei.