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ISSUE 058, March 16-31, 2012
Unfiltered, uninhibited…just the gruesome truth
High cost of living causing family break ups By HENRY OWINO The rate at which the cost of basic commodities in the market is skyrocketing is a worrying trend for many Kenyans. This is especially worrying for low income earners who depend on casual job wages for to sustain their families. Most people are forced to dig even deeper into their pockets to buy the essential commodities. Most consumers can no longer afford them even though they used to in the previous years as prices never changed much. Today what one used to buy at KSh100 now goes for about KSh300 or more depending on where it is bought, availability and the locality. In fact the increase of basic commodities is more than 200 per cent yet the salary remains constant making the cost of living exorbitant.
Coping mechanisms
Majority of Kenyans are earning below a dollar a day yet the cost of living has gone up forcing the same low-income earners to opt for various ways to survive since life has to continue. So to make up for the difference being experienced by the harsh economic times, many are disposing off their priced possessions in their houses at a fraction of what they spent on them in a bid to obtain some cash to survive. Currently most families have cut their budget spending to buy essentials only, while others have even re-programmed their diet timetables by having a single meal in day. Despite all this, some families are breaking apart due to misunderstanding of the rising cost of basic food items. For those who could not cope with the very high cost of living especially in Nairobi, they had to relocate to upcountry or move to cheaper and affordable rental houses in the slums to make ends meet at the end of the day. Monica Adongo Onyango, 43 said the prices of basic commodities has gone up that nowadays she has to draw up a budget of all that she needs before leaving her house for any shopping. Adongo said life has become so expensive that if one does not budget properly, then he or she will end up spending more money on unnecessary items.
Costly living
Adongo lives in a rental house at Makina, Kibera’s estate in Nairobi. She says the cost of living in urban slums has always been cheaper compared to any other place in the city but prices of basic commodities remain the same for all regardless of their purchasing power. She gave the example of maize flour used to make ugali, a staple food that is now selling for between KSh110 and KSh120 depending on the brand. “I am surprised that sugar which I used to buy at KSh100 not long ago, now it is being sold at over KSh2OO. Nowadays I do not buy sugar, it is better to purchase four packets of two kilogrammes maize flour which is more essential in the house than sugar which I can do away with.
From left: Monica Adongo Onyango carrying her goods from the supermarket. Rose Wafula, buying vegetables at an open air market along Ngong Road. Pictures: Henry Owino It is a matter of priority and cost cutting. When I get some money, I ensure all basic items are bought because you never how much it will cost the next day,” Adongo explained. She revealed that some families have had quarrels over household expenditure. The genesis of the misunderstandings always comes from how much money the wife spent on basic commodities.
Conflict
The husband might leave some money for the wife and expect the amount he left could be enough for the day, only for the wife to realise prices had changed the previous night and buys the basic goods very expensive. Some men would not listen and unnecessarily beat up the wife for misuse of family money hence break up. She added that it is the reason many families today are either breaking up or the husband resorts to buying the basic needs by himself for the family for purposes of having peace in the house to protect their children. Rose Wafula who has been married for the last seven years with three children says she is finding it tough to feed the family. Her husband is a casual labourer at a construction site while she is a small scale business woman selling snacks at a nearby school. Wafula admitted that they have had many differences between herself and the husband most of which are always caused by the budget. She said her husband is very strict when it comes to spending. Gone are the days when
their family could take milk, tea and bread. This is no longer part of their breakfast routine. Leisure activities such as travel and eating out have also being shelved as the family tightens controls around spending money. Wafula said the last time they travelled back to the rural home for such an occasion was in 2007 and in addition, they were going to take part in the voting process in Bungoma town. “The cost of kerosene I use in my house for lighting and cooking has become costly, we cannot afford cooking gas, a container of charcoal is KSh40 and I need two per day, so imagine if you add the house rent of KSh1800, water…its too much to imagine,” Wafula narrated. She said most of her neighbours at Gatwekera in Kibera estate sold their house possessions that they thought could earn them some good money but they never and ended up vacating to upcountry when life in town especially Nairobi becomes unbearable for them. She said they do not live in iron structure
“Today life is about cost cutting, why should I spend KSh10, 000 on a single day just to please people then I suffer for the rest of the year.” — David Okemwa
houses at their wish but the level of poverty caused by inflation has pushed them to the slums. David Okemwa has lived in Nairobi for over 30 years now in different estates. He says one could live with relatives cater for other expenses without much struggle. He however says things began changing in the late 1990s after multiparty politics took root in Kenya.
Bad politics
“I remember the former president said bad politics lead to bad life. So even if we make noise that unga should be KSh40, KSh50 or KSh70 who cares? They do not because they are not feeling the pinch of inflation you and I are feeling,” Okemwa said. “Today life is about cost cutting, why should I spend KSh10, 000 on a single day just to please people then I suffer for the rest of the year,” Okemwa said. He said any wife who still demands for expensive pedicure, manicure, clothes, shoes that are not necessary in the house as a basic need from her unemployed husband at this time when life has become exorbitant and almost unbearable, then that woman is not considerate to the husband and deserves no honor to the community. The gentleman on the other hand, blamed the members of parliament for not implementing the Price Control Bill which has been in the August House for some time and needs to be in practice to save the poor against unscrupulous businessmen.
Poverty and alcoholism have given rise to domestic violence By WANGARI MWANGI Abject poverty and alcoholism have been cited as the major contributing factors of the increased domestic violence in Murang’a County. In the recent past, the media has highlighted cases of gender violence in Central Kenya. In a special sitting with the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) women from this area featured prominently with the victims narrating their ordeal at the hands of their husbands and family members. It emerged that thousands of women have been suffering in silence fearing to disclose their problems to avoid public embarrassment or threats from their husbands. Mary Njoki* a mother of five says she abandoned her family and children when her husband became intolerable but even her second marriage worked no magic. She said on several occasions she
spent nights in the cold after being chased out of the house by her drunken husband. “I thought running into the arms of another man would end my marriage nightmare of being beaten everyday but things never changed,” she said. Lack of a stable source of income for women has created a platform for men to exploit their wives as they will only clinch into that marriage for the sole purpose of providence as they have no one else to rely on. Grace Mwanjiru* told the commissioners in the sitting that since she
got married 20 years ago, her husband has always been beating her since she does not make any economic contribution to the family. “My husband comes home drunk, beats me up mocking me that I have nowhere to go because I am poor,” she said.
Sexual assault
At times, the violence includes sexual assault. The women narrated how they have been victims of sexual assault in the hands of their husbands. Some of them said that when their husbands come home drunk
“In every 10 women, four or five of them suffer from domestic violence.” Jane Kamwaga, County Chair, CCCE
they also defile their daughters. However they fear disclosing such cases to cover for their spouses or after being threatened. Helplessly, they watch as their daughters suffer yet there is nothing they can do. “Our daughters are married off at early ages to cover up the incidences once the offenders realise the information has reached the authority or they arbitrate to avoid spreading the matter to the public,” said one mother who sought anonymity. The provincial administrators at the grassroots have not had the capacity to deal with such cases and the conflicting parties are advised to solve the matters back at home. Issues of disinheritance, property grabbing and human rights violations also came up with several women claiming to have been chased out of their matrimonial homes after the death of their husbands. Jane Kamwaga, the County chair of the Coordination Centre for Com-
munity Empowerment (CCCE) said many women are suffering in silence. She said the prevalence rate is shooting to 40 to 50 per cent calling for urgent measures to address the issue. “In every 10 women, four or five of them suffer from domestic violence,” she said. However, Kamwaga regretted that women are never ready to report incidences of domestic violence. Instead, they discuss them amongst themselves without seeking any legal redress. The presiding chair of the TJRC session, Tecla Namachanja said the problem being shared by women from the area was shocking. She said there was need to urgently address the issues. The chair said they would make recommendations to the government to ensure that the women’s suffering was brought to an end. “We have a special interest in women. We shall do all we can to create a conducive atmosphere for them to live peacefully,” she remarked.