On economy, we shouldn’t box the shadows

Most Kenyans live on less than Sh200 a day. They do not have wage jobs and rely mostly on rainfed farming and livestock husbandry. And even for those with jobs, they are in low productivity sectors that pay peanuts. Many have to supplement their wages with agricultural subsidies from the country side. Finally, most Kenyan workers are in the informal sector – making a living by hustling from gig to gig, without enough time or managerial support to increase their productivity.

This is the reality of the Kenyan economy. But you would not know that if all you looked at was the content of the government’s policy pronouncements. More often than not, policymakers and politicians talk as if they live in a parallel universe where money is aplenty, to be wasted on phantom and White Elephant projects, or simply stolen. Largely reliant on foreign consultants and advisers, they spend a lot of time and money planning and implementing policies designed to create an outward facing economy.