The Weak Infrastructure of Kenya

Economic Block

Kenya has many underlying issues causing poverty in the Kenyan community.  Weak overall infrastructure for the country means jobs are scarce, leaving people with little opportunity for employment. There are considerable obstacles for starting a small business in Kenya as well. "The poor,  the women and other disadvantaged groups cannot obtain credit and other financial services needed to start small businesses and undertake other activities that create income because small enterprises don't have business support." (1).




Courtesy of: earthtrends.wri.org



 The Republic of Kenya

Kenya has a Republic government, and in 1982, Kenya became a one party state.  Since then the head of the government has been Daniel arp Moi.  The Kenyan government has long been accused of corruption, human rights viloations and its refusal to allow political decent, but in 1998 President Moi finally was overwhelmed by the pressure to reform. 


Poor Governance

 The problem of horrible government is one of Kenya's biggest problems.  "The impact of bad governance on the poor is real, systematically affects many people, and undermines the efforts to reduce poverty in the country." (1).  The peoples of Kenya have a lack of knowledge of the government and political systems and their laws which causes them to lag behind in social change.  Their inaccessability to public information and non-affordability to legal services are are huge causes of poverty and in most cases being poor means being powerless.

The law enforcment system that is set in place in Kenya is somewhat non-existant in the means that is there physically, but the structure itself if almost entirely corrupt and immoral.  "Kenyan policemen are poorly paid and have to make use with archaic housing that has not been expanded or renovated since the 1970s. This has made them very susceptible to corruption and crime. Extortion and bribery are not unknown practices and the Kenyan people rank the police among the most corrupt bodies in the country." (2).



Courtesy of: img.dailymail.co.uk



The Flag of Kenya & its Underlying Meaning

"The shield and crossed spears represent the defense of freedom. The black bar symbolizes the people of Kenya. The red bar symbolizes the blood shed in the struggle for independence. The green bar symbolizes Kenya's natural resources. The two narrow white bars symbolize peace and unity." (3)



Courtesy of: http://worldcultures.tripod.com/government.html



Globalization and Kenya

Globalization implies faster, more efficient and more effective means of communication between people from one end of the globe to the other.  "The concept of globalisation involves the breaking of frontiers that had hitherto hindered human beings from operating outside their national borders.  Hence the movement of human resources from one country to another has gained momentum, leading to the phenomenon of brain drain." (4).  In Kenyas case globalization has not yet taken its full course in its history.  Africa in general has long been affeted by many downfalls suchs as its harsh climate, which in turn does not allow its people to produce crops for harvest. Africa also has many diseases that its people die from every day such as AIDS and malaria because the medical systems in Africa are not at all up to pare. 



Courtesy of: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=kenya's%



There are only four Kenyan towns that are friendly for business, they are Narok, Malaba, Thika and Kisumu.  It is in this towns where business start-ups are easy in terms of getting construction permits and registering property.  "Frequently in the past, Kenya has been faulted for being anti-trade due to the numerous licences one requires to set up shop. These come both from the central and local governments." (5).  This is one of the main reasons that there has not been an economic boost in Kenya for quite some time.  Most business investors do not feel like going through the hassles os getting all of the permits that are required to start up a business in the first place. 

Gender Roles of the Kenyan Culture

When it comes to gender roles in Kenya, we used to be able to compare it to the gender roles we have in America today, but due to lack of jobs and income, they have gone astray.  The men have alwyas been looked at as head of the household and the "breadwinners" while the women would tend to the children and household chores.  Lately there has been such a decrease in sufficient job opportunity in Kenya that these gender roles have gone completely down the drain.  The men cannot afford the cost of marraige, so there are more casual relations happeneing, leaving women to be single mothers and raising their children often poor and without proper shelter.  The women do not have as equal opportunities to advance in society, so they are often seen on street corners begging for money so they may feed their children whom are severly malnurished.  As for the poeple living in thr rural part of Kenya, they have a tradition that they stick to.  The women stay home and raise the children and take care of the household, and the men go out hunting for food and maintain their tribe.



Courtesy of: http://www.nidalm.com/BlogImages/Kenya/Masai/3.jpg



References:

(1)- http://exitpoverty.org/Home/Issues.aspx

(2)- http://www.kenyapolice.go.ke/Formations.asp

(3)- http://worldcultures.tripod.com/government.html

(4)- http://africa.peacelink.org/wajibu/articles/art_7514.html

(5)- http://allafrica.com/stories/200910020021.html