By Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD (Leading Environmental Law Scholar, Policy Advisor, Natural Resources Lawyer and Dispute Resolution Expert from Kenya), Winner of Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021, ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 and CIArb (Kenya) Lifetime Achievement Award 2021*
While successive governments in Kenya have put in place varying efforts geared towards achieving ‘development’ in the country, results have often been skewed with most of these efforts concentrating mainly on infrastructural development and inadequate resources being directed at the social economic empowerment of the citizenry. The right of every person to self-determination as envisaged under the international bill of rights allows them to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. The concern is not with the political aspect of this right but the pursuit of economic and social development. However, it is acknowledged that achieving this kind of development for the citizenry is not completely devoid of political influence as, it has been argued, social and political structures may shape government policy toward the welfare state.
The founding father of the nation, President Jomo Kenyatta in his agenda listed following as the greatest enemies of the country and which required to be addressed urgently: Ugonjwa (disease), Umaskini (poverty), Ufisadi (corruption) and Ujinga (ignorance and illiteracy). While there may be evidence of economic development in the country, it is arguable that such economic growth has only benefited small numbers of people, with great disparities of wealth leading most Kenyans continue to suffer under very low living standards. The move by the Government of Kenya to pursue its ‘Big Four Agenda’ which targets: enhancing manufacturing; food security and nutrition; universal health care; and affordable housing, is a step in the right direction. These pillars could be deemed to be part of the government’s efforts towards fulfilling its constitutional obligations on the ‘progressive realisation of social economic rights.’
The question of how to actualize Socio-Economic Rights under the Constitution of Kenya for Sustainable Development calls for suggestions ways that policy makers and other stakeholders can ensure inclusive, meaningful and impactful socio-economic development as an ingredient for realisation of sustainable development agenda in the country. It is however worth mentioning that this cannot be achieved through unilateral efforts and must be done through the concerted efforts of all stakeholders. For instance, addressing unemployment and low incomes for poverty reduction and empowerment under the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development entails prioritizing the set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by the year 2030.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom and was formulated in recognition that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. SDG Goal 8 seeks to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. One of the ways that is to be achieved will be promotion of development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services. Such policies are a good foundation for the empowerment of the poor in the Kenyan society.
Empowering the poor sections of the population in the society is the first step towards building a sustainable economic growth and development. A society that seeks to empower its men and women both socially and economically can have reasonable expectations as far as poverty reduction or even elimination is concerned. It has been argued that any given growth scenario can generate different poverty outcomes for a given rate of growth, the extent of poverty reduction depends on how the distribution of income changes with changes in growth, and on initial inequalities in income, assets and access to opportunities to allow the poor to share in growth. Equi-proportional growth leaves income distribution intact, whereas by improving the position of some at the lower scale of distribution, it reduces poverty. Pro-poor growth and development policies, however, will by definition improve the status of the poor and affect income distribution. This supports the argument that unless any perceived or real economic growth reported in a country is as a result of economic policies, plans and programmes that take into account the interests of the poor, then it cannot rightly be used as a measure of how well the citizenry is doing. Investing in pro-poor development projects is one of the best ways that poverty can be addressed in the country, instead of short-term projects.
Economic empowerment of the various groups in Kenya can go a long way in improving the lives of families and addressing the ever rising levels of poverty in the country. Empowerment is defined as a process through which individuals or organised groups increase their power and autonomy to achieve certain outcomes they need and desire. Empowerment focuses on supporting disadvantaged people to gain power and exert greater influence over those who control access to key resources.56 Social empowerment on the other hand may be defined as the process of developing a sense of autonomy and self-confidence, and acting individually and collectively to change social relationships and the institutions and discourses that exclude poor people and keep them in poverty.
Poor people’s empowerment, and their ability to hold others to account, is strongly influenced by their individual assets (such as land, housing, livestock, savings) and capabilities of all types: human (such as good health and education), social (such as social belonging, a sense of identity, leadership relations) and psychological (self-esteem, self-confidence, the ability to imagine and aspire to a better future). Also important are people’s collective assets and capabilities, such as voice, organisation, representation and identity.58 Reduction of crime rates and other social ills can arguably be achieved through addressing social inequalities in the society. Some scholars have argued that there exists a link between unemployment and crime, incarceration and family breakup. Empowering the different groups in society can help them take charge of their economic and social lives thus effectively participating economic development and realisation of sustainable development agenda.
It has been observed that empowerment of those living in poverty is both a critical driver and an important measure of poverty reduction. This is because the decisions and actions of poor people themselves can bring about sustainable improvements in their lives and livelihoods. The need for empowerment of the poor is justified on the fact that sustainable poverty reduction needs poor people to be both the agents and beneficiaries of economic growth to directly participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes. Strengthening poor people’s organizations, providing them with more control over assets and promoting their influence in economic governance will improve the terms on which they engage in markets. Thus, economic empowerment combined with political and social empowerment will make growth much more effective in reducing poverty.
*This article is an extract from the Article: Actualising Socio-Economic Rights for Sustainable Development in Kenya, (2019) Journal of Conflict Management and Sustainable Development Volume 3(2), p. 33. by Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD, Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021 (Nairobi Legal Awards), ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 and ADR Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 (CIArb Kenya). Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a foremost Environmental Law and Natural Resources Lawyer and Scholar, Sustainable Development Advocate and Conflict Management Expert in Kenya. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a Senior Lecturer of Environmental Law and Dispute resolution at the University of Nairobi School of Law and The Center for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP). He has published numerous books and articles on Environmental Law, Environmental Justice Conflict Management, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Sustainable Development. Dr. Muigua is also a Chartered Arbitrator, an Accredited Mediator, the Africa Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Managing Partner of Kariuki Muigua & Co. Advocates. Dr. Muigua is recognized among the top 5 leading lawyers and dispute resolution experts in Kenya by the Chambers Global Guide 2022.
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