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94% Of Kenyans Are Poor, Living From Hand To Mouth

BY Juma · February 28, 2020 08:02 am

Kenya has a population of 47.6 million people according to the recent census report by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) although many people expected the number to be higher, probably more than 52 million.

But, would you believe is someone told you that out of the 47.6 million Kenyans, 45 million of them are either poor or on the brink of poverty? Well, as we say, “things on the ground are different.”

A report by the World Food Program (WFP) in partnership with UNICEF, and quoting stats from the World Bank, showed that 94 percent of Kenyans do not have any extra cash beyond what they need to survive “from day to day.”

Stats from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, broken down, indicate that 1 in 5 working Kenyans holds a permanent job, of these numbers, 2 million employees (about 95 percent) take home less than 100,000 shillings.

As leaders celebrate that Kenya is joining the league of “rich countries” with an economy valued at 10 trillion shillings, the common mwananchi on the ground has nothing to smile about.

The majority of Kenyans who work are just a cheque away into poverty. They are living from cheque to cheque and the moment an emergency strikes, they fall into a financial hall that is too dip to recover.

“In Kenya, we live between poverty and sickness. If you are poor, do not fall sick, because you will die. If you are the so-called “middle-class”, do not fall sick either, you will spend your savings paying hospital bills, enter into debts and eventually die,” said one Twitter user by the name Juma f3.

Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate in Kenya has continued to balloon with each passing year. The National Employment Authority (NEA) unofficially places the rate at 43.5 percent while the recent Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) seems to place it at 39 percent among the youth.

READ: Kenya Power And Lighting Posts 92% Drop In Profits For 2019

Juma is an enthusiastic journalist who believes that journalism has power to change the world either negatively or positively depending on how one uses it.(020) 528 0222 or Email: info@sokodirectory.com

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