Being the president of any given state is one of the challenging tasks in governance. If awarded the chance to become the president of Kenya, there are various issues currently experienced by Kenyan citizens that I would address. Kenya is a developing country in East Africa whose citizens encounter different problems ranging from lack of health care, high poverty rates, crime, ethnic conflicts, unemployment rates to the high cost of living (inflation). If I am elected as the President of Kenya, I will prioritize reducing the poverty levels, improving health care services, eradicating ethnic conflicts, controlling the rising costs of living, and creating more job opportunities for the unemployed.

In 2011, Kenya was ranked among countries whose majority of its citizens survive on less than US$1.90 per day, which is the standard international poverty line (“Poverty Incidence in Kenya,” 2018). Despite the poverty levels, Kenya’s economy has witnessed an average GDP growth of 5% per year with the highest being 12.40% in 2010, which is a good gesture to its economy (“Kenya GDP Annual Growth Rate,” 2019). One of the solutions to tame the rising poverty levels in Kenya would entail establishing grants that can be accessed at county levels. These funds would be targeting small scale businesses, women, and youths. The county governments would create offices within counties to educate and supervise the usage of such funds. Moreover, the funds would be awarded at the lowest and flexible interest rates to boost business activities. Therefore, through such funds, Kenyans would improve their livelihoods, which translates to poverty eradication.

Health care is one of the critical sectors in any given country, which should be critically monitored by the government. Accessing health care services in Kenya is still a challenge to the majority of Kenyans in both rural and urban setup. The most affected group are the people in rural and slum settlements such as Kibera, Mathare, Dandora, and Huruma in Nairobi County. The majority of people who are unable to access health services are the poor who are uninsured. Such individuals turn to local dispensaries that are privately owned by individuals whose majority are unqualified. To ensure that every citizen regardless of their financial status has access to proper care, I would make sure that county hospitals are provided with enough drugs and medical equipment. Secondly, I would ensure that the funds from the government to the ministry of health is adequately utilized to avoid mismanagement of resources such as in the case of the 2016 scandal where the department of health lost 7 billion shilling through the procurement of 37 CT scanners (Oruko, 2018). Through such initiatives, Kenyans are guaranteed proper medical services.

Ethnic conflict is one of the critical challenges Kenya Experiences since its independence from the British. According to Kilonzo (2014), Kenya has 47 tribes, which makes it one of the most diverse countries across the globe. However, such cultural diversity might be quite disadvantageous when people are not united leading to ethnic clashes. In late 2007, Kenya was rocked with violence that resulted in the death of over 1000 people as a result of disputed election polls (Waiyaki & Onyango-Ngesa, 2017). Ethnic alignments fueled the violence, which led to the displacement and deaths of people including children. As the President of Kenya, I would ensure such events never occur by uniting Kenyans through equal distribution of resources. Moreover, I would also make sure that national governmental jobs are awarded inclusively to promote unity among Kenyans.

Crime and high unemployment rates are some of the challenges Kenyans experience. These problems are intertwined since lack of employment has driven many people to engage in criminal activities such as mugging, theft, drug peddling or prostitution. For instance, in the urban setups such as Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa, cases of criminal activities perpetrated by the youths are on the rise due to lack of unemployment. Therefore, to suppress the rising instances of crime in Kenya, the government should develop programs to engage the youths and the employed. Through my administration, I would ensure that the county governments are awarded youth development funds to support them in setting up businesses or financing their education.

As the President of Kenya, I would strive to improve the livelihoods of Kenyans by uniting them to eradicate ethnic clashes, enhancing cooperation between the national and county governments to boost the health care sector and reduce poverty levels. Furthermore, I would establish an inclusive cabinet to ensure that all the Kenyan tribes are represented to promote unity and developments.

References

Kilonzo, D. K. (2014, May 25). New law unites the 47 tribes of Kenya. Standard Digital.

Retrieved from https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000122298/new-law-unites-the-47-tribes-of-kenya.

Kenya GDP Annual Growth Rate. (2019). Trading Economics. Retrieved from

https://tradingeconomics.com/kenya/gdp-growth-annual.

Poverty incidence in Kenya declined significantly, but unlikely to be eradicated by 2030. (2018,

April). The World Bank. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/kenya/publication/kenya-economic-update-poverty-incidence-in-kenya-declined-significantly-but-unlikely-to-be-eradicated-by-2030.

Oruko, I. (2018, June 19). Sh7bn scandal hits health ministry. Daily Nation. Retrieved from

https://www.nation.co.ke/news/Sh7bn-scandal-hits-Health-ministry/1056-4619498-hs9tysz/index.html.

Waiyaki, W. & Onyango-Ngesa, M. (2017, August 17). Kenya’s post-election violence: The

harm that’s been done to children. The Conversation. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/kenyas-post-election-violence-the-harm-thats-been-done-to-children-82266.

 
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