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KENYA’S COUNTRY REPORT • LOCATION • Kenya is one of the east African countries bordered by Tanzania on the SW, Uganda on the W , Sudan NW , Ethiopia N, Somalia NE and on the SE the India Ocean.Kenya enjoys a tropical climate that is characterised by wet and hot seasons. The temperature on average is 27°C. • From the 1998 / 99 population census by the central bureau of statistics results show that Kenya has a population of approximately 32million people
Overview of poverty Situation in Kenya • In the year 1963 The Kenya Government identified illiteracy, disease,ignorance and poverty as the main problems to be addressed in order to achieve sustainable national development. • The GOK has tried to address the above problems by formulating and/or implementing various policies and programmes. • The intervention s have been contained in the National Development plans , Sessional papers and reports of presidential commissions, committees and taskforces.
CONTI… • The first three post independence decades saw improvement in some social and economic indicators such as health status and educational attainments ( Kiringai and Manda, 2002). However, in the last one decade , educational attainments, health and poverty status of Kenyans has shown a declining trend. Currently 60% of the kenyan population live below the poverty line that is the employed persons earn on average approximately 1.2USD $ . • This means one person in a household on daily basis consumes less than 1$ .
Conti…… • Poverty is dimensional. According to the World bank, poverty is manifested in terms of hunger, lack of shelter, and being sick and not being able to afford to see a doctor. It is also reflected in terms of the deaths arising from use of unclean water, and above all, powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom. • In the Kenyan context , poverty is seen as deprivation of essential assets and opportunities to which every human being is entitled ( Republic of Kenya , 2004) • While poverty can be defined with either monetary or non-monetary perspective, poverty mapping research in Kenya has adopted the monetary absolute poverty line derived from the 1997 welfare monitoring survey.
Conti……. • This measure is based on the comparison of individual’s consumptionexpenditures, with some thresholds below, which are considered to be poor. Thus poverty line is conceptualised as a minimum amount of money required by an individual to fulfil his/her basic food and non – food needs such as medical, education , shelter and decent clothes. • Poverty situation in Kenya has worsened with many more Kenyans becoming poorer and poorer. While in the 1970s, the incidence of poverty in the country was around 29%, it increased considerably in this decade. Available data indicate that in 1992 the level of absolute poverty increased from 46.3% to 52.3% in 1997.This means that the incidence of poverty deepened by 1.2% per year over the five –year period. The level of poverty was estimated to be 56.7% in 2003 and now it is esimated that 60% of the Kenyan population live below the poverty line. • Urban poverty situation in Kenya has also been deteriorating.
Conti….. • The number of the urban poverty increased from 29% in 1994 to 49.2% in 1997 and increased further especially with the deepening of reforms such as the structural adjustment programmes both private and in public sector of the economy. • Associated with the increased poverty levels are the deteriorating health status of Kenyans and the decline in primary enrolment.The 2003 Kenya Demographic Health Survey ( KDHS) indicates that infant mortality rate in Kenya is 77 deaths per 1000 live births while under-five mortality is 115 deaths per 1000 live births ( Republic of Kenya,2004).The implication is that currently, roughly 1 in every 9 children does not live to see their fifth birthday. Available data also indicates that maternal deaths represent 14% of all deaths to women aged 15-49.Life expectancy has also recorded a declining trend since 1990s, declining from 60 years in 1993 to 51.02 in 1998. This has worsened to about 49 years in 2003 to date 2005.
Conti……… • The declining health status in the country is partly due to the impact of HIV/AIDS approximately 2M . The pandemic has emerged as one of the most serious disease facing the developing world. • This disease has resulted to the country having many orphans, households headed by children without skills of how they can earn a living.To a large extent this is also crippling the country’s economy since we are losing both skilled and unskilled labourforce.Therefore this has resulted to the afflicated households especially children headed household to live in abject poverty.
The prsp Background • The PRSP approach to poverty reduction in low –income countries was approved by the Boards of the world bank and the IMF in December 1999.The poverty reduction strategies were expected to be country driven, result oriented , comprehensive and long-term in perspective,and to foster domestic and external partnerships in line with the principles that underpin the comprehensive Development Framework (CDF). • PRSPs are, therefore a description of a country’s macro,social and other policies and programs designed to promote growth and reduce poverty. • The Kenya government subscribed to Poverty Reduction Growth Facility ( PRGF) in 2000.The country started preparation of its PRSP in the same year.The PRSP is at the centre of the long term vision outlined in the National Poverty Eradication Plan ( NPEP).
CONTI …….. • The NPEP proposes a fifteen (15) year time horizon to fight poverty in the country. It has adopted the International Development Goals ( IDGs), which aim at reducing global poverty by half. In 2003, the government embarked on the preparation of its Economic Recovery Strategy for wealth and Employment creation ,2003-2007 (ERSWEC). The ERSWEC presents a roadmap for economic recovery. It takes into account existing government policy documents, particularly the PRSP and national development plans to provide strategic directions for economic recovery and wealth creation in Kenya ( Republic of Kenya, 2004)
Trade union Participation in PRSP process • An evaluation of the PRSP formulation and implementation process in Kenya shows that the country’s trade union movement, as a legitimate workers’ representative, was not significantly involved in the process.The trade unions were represented by ( one nominee) at the national steering committee, and later on the Human Resource Development sector working group. • Since the work of the steering committeewas to oversee the consultative process,it also follows that the trade unions were not given adequate representation and opportunity to make contributions during the PRSP formulation process. The same applies to the sector working groups whose processes were marred with dominance by government officials, lack-luster coordination, and lack of transparency among other problems.
Conti…… • The initial expectation may have been that the trade unions would participate in the process as part of the civil society, the NGO or as a private sector organization. This confirmed by the late invitation of workers’ umbrella body ( COTU) to participate in the Human Resource Development sector working group of the PRSP ( Chune ,2003). The limited involvement of trade unions in the PRSP process is also manifested by the lack of focus and/or mis-specification of the national priorities in regard to labour ,social security and capacity building. • The tight time schedule of PRSP process is thought to have limited the level and quality of participation of the trade unions and all other stakeholders alike. The trade union fraternity contend that the whole PRSP exercise was rushed and very little time was available for the trade unions could not find enough latitude understand the PRSP contents
Conti……. • and the processes and sentisize its members on the same, as would be expeted of any representative body. Furthermore, the unions had no specific budgetary allocation to facilitate the sensitization and gathering the views of their rank and file members. • Conclusively trade unions were not adequtely involved in the PRSP process in this country.Therefore a lot of lobbying needs to be done by the trade unions for their inputs to be incoporated in the PRSP programme.
