Lords of benevolence, poverty thrive in the guise of helping the poor

The expression “Lords of Poverty” has snaked its way into Kenya’s political phraseology. Every so often, some elite politician refers to another one as “the lord of poverty.” Earlier this week, Deputy President William Ruto, was on the rampage. In a full-blown seizure of anger, he railed at an unknown person, whom he called “the lord of poverty.” But who are the lords of poverty?

In 1989, American journalist and researcher Graham Hancock published the controversial book titled Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Business Aid. The East African correspondent for The Economist became an instant focus for conversations in development studies across Africa and beyond. He had gone into sensitive space. He was calling Western “do-gooders” the lords of poverty.