Kenyan’s and Money

I love Kenyans and I love being Kenyan, we are hard working, toiling for between 8 to 12 hours a day or even longer, looking for cash. The average Kenyan will start hustling at an early age. Wafula who just completed his high school education in Western Province is now standing outside Mumias Sugar Factory with many other casual labourers’ hoping to selected to work for a day in the factory for a small pay of 250 Kshs. It is in our genetic make up to always work hard.

If this is the case, why are the majority of Kenyans still languishing in extreme poverty? Otoyo who has been working for several years on different construction sites is still in the same financial state he has been in since he arrived in Nairobi ten years ago. He still lives in the crowed slams of Kibera in a one room mabati structure house with his wife and four children.

Several reasons can be given to explain this, but one reason stands out, and that is most Kenyans have poor money spending attitude.

Wekesa, a plumber, has had no job for the past 3 months. Recently he was contracted to construct the piping for an apartment and was paid 15,000 Kshs. To him this is a lot of money and just like many Kenyans this was how he spent the money.

Firstly, he decides to reward himself for the hard work he has done, so he decides to pass by the local drinking joint and orders several rounds of Tusker baridi, a switch from his usual brew, Muratina. A few friends join him and he buys them 2 rounds each and by the end of the night he has spent around 2,000 Kshs.

While at home he remembers that they have not eaten meat in his house for the past 3 months so he sends his son, to the butchery to buy half a kilogram of meat. This becomes the trend for a couple of days in Wekesa’s house.

The weekend comes and Wekesa decides to treat his family for a day out at Uhuru Park where they enjoy a boat ride and chicken and chips at Kenchic. Roughly he ends up spending close to 3,000 Ksh on that day.

This goes without mentioning that Wekesa spent 2,500 Kshs on her wife, getting her hair done and buying her a few clothes. Watajuaje mzee amelipwa if the wife is not pampered a bit.

So far he has spent close to 10,000 Kshs and decided to go to visit his mother in Western Province. He surely can’t go empty handed so Wekesa passes by the supermarket and spends about 3,000 Kshs. The transport to Western is about 2,000 Kshs, to and fro, so in total he spends 5,000 Kshs on this trip, mind you, this is on the lower side.

Before he knows it, Wekesa has spent all he had and is left penniless again. The vicious cycle of poverty starts all over again and Wekesa soon finds himself waiting for another contract to come his way. If only he was wise enough to save the money or reinvest, he wouldn’t have been in this financial state.

It’s sad, but this is the reality with most Kenyans, we are more of spenders than savers. Those lucky enough got a Christmas bonus last year and most of them are now dead broke after spending it all during the festive holidays. It’s only this weekend that my dad received a phone call from one of his employees asking for an advance of 5,000 Kshs for his child’s first term school fees, mind you this employee had received a hefty Christmas bonus of 7,000 Kshs. We tend live beyond our means when we have money but end up regretting when our cash flow runs low. Am sure most of us are now in shock after January became a reality: the landlord is on your back, school are about to reopen and you are yet to do the back to school shopping. If only we were wise enough to effectively manage our money.

It’s only through saving that we can escape this cycle of poverty, if we don’t save we’ll remain poor, even if we earn. We should stop gambling with money and identify ways through which we can invest the little money we have. A story is told of a young man who went to Mombasa in search for greener pastures, he’s brother gave him 200Kshs to start him off. This young man ventured into the hocking business, selling handkerchiefs along the streets, he reinvested his returns into the growth of his business, currently the young man, now a fully grown man in his early thirties owns a car showroom in Mombasa. It’s possible to make it with the little we have, but only if we change our attitude towards money.