Big gap between rich and poor cause of insecurity

When humans are able to satisfy basic needs of food, shelter, clothing and perhaps entertainment, they erect walls around their homes.

This is not to protect themselves from rodents and stray dogs, but from their neighbours.

Insecurity is a state of uncertainty or anxiety about oneself; a state of being vulnerable to danger or threat.

Usually, people sink into this situation when they realise that their neighbours are not doing as well as them and start to treat them with suspicion.

It is a little wonder then that the need for people's safety comes immediately after meeting psychological needs in Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of needs.

Once you have barricaded yourself inside your compound with razor wires, those around you will start to resent you.

Often, the youth who feel disconnected from the societies in which they live don't hesitate to resort to crime, with those they perceive to be doing better than them being their targets.

In a society where a few people cook a lot of food, eat a bit of it and the rest of it finds its way to dumpsites, the perception of deprivation can only be fanned further and make it even more difficult to guarantee everyone's safety.

Those who sleep on empty stomachs often feel that their situation has been aggravated by their affluent neighbours who always have something to throw away.

It is a fact that affluent neighbourhoods in Kenya with perimeter walls are usually adjacent to slums.

Even though the well to do procure the services of the slum dwellers to carry out various tasks at their homes, they still do not trust them enough and sometimes underpay or delay their pay.

And the irony of this situation is, although we want to protect ourselves from our neighbours, we still need their services.

The most effective method of eliminating insecurity is to invest in social capital. This is building networks of relationships among people in our neighbourhoods whereby information is willingly shared and everyone plays a role for the common good.

Social capital empowers people and makes them feel part of the whole group and this minimises threats.

Every year, multinationals announce multi-billion shilling profits they make from businesses, but hardly plough back part of these proceeds to improve the welfare of the people in the neighbourhoods where they operate.

However, the recent launch of 2Jiajiri programme by Kenya Commercial Bank in which it has invested Sh50 billion for youth empowerment is one of the ways corporations can invest in vulnerable people to improve their livelihoods and boost social capital.

Their estimated creation of 2.5 million jobs for the youth will without doubt help minimise insecurity.
It is worth noting that all of us are part of the entire ecosystem and we all have a role to play to enhance our safety.

Let us feed our neighbours, share with them critical information concerning available helpful opportunities, support them where we can so they can stand on their feet.

As a society, we should also learn to treat each other with kindness regardless of our economic status. This is one of the ways through which we can bridge the yawning class gaps that sometimes breed insecurity. It is time all of us appreciated the fact that being assigned more armed police officers may not necessarily eliminate crime if underlying causes of insecurity are not addressed.