Give me the books; I will give them to the kids. We will turn them into world class citizens

Hi, my name is Kenneth Okwaroh Ochieng. I am Kenyan, born and raised in a small village on the shores of Lake Victoria in East Africa. It took me 27 years to discover that I love politics, policy, government and economics. I fumbled and muddled through primary, secondary and even undergraduate schooling thinking I wanted to be a medical doctor, then nurse, the urban planner, then journalist, even actor! Mine was 3 decades of muddling through with little information and exposure to detect my true potential and determine what I wanted, what I could be good at, and what I could realistically be.

Today, I look at kids in the village, around the sugarcane farms where I was raised, still going through the same. I wouldn’t want this to continue. It would be a tragedy if I let this continue. I have made a personal choice to spare time, resources and will to provide these kids with information. Information to allow them learn the vastness of the world and to discover the vastness of their unique capabilities and to be able to elect what they want to be, earlier on in life. 

My first step is setting up a small library for kids in that rural village in Kisumu County where I grew up to learn the world and discover their potential. This will grow to other areas in Kenya.

Please share with me books you have read; books your children have read; books you can spare. Any titles from math, to literature, art, politics to science. Wherever you are, whatever you have, just let me know. I have been saving and continue to fundraise so can put in some resources for shipment.

"We are raising a dangerous generation of superficial citizens that must not be allowed to thrive" Someone said that today, if you want to hide something from the typical African youth, put it inside a book.

You can catch me @Okwaroh on twitter; +Kenneth Okwaroh on google plus; Okwaroh Ja’ paprombe on face book; on my blog Okwarohztake http://okwarohztake.blogspot.com/ or drop me mail at okwaroh@gmail.com

Thank you, and may you find blessing and satisfaction in supporting and inspiring a truly worthy course.

Vouching for Social Protection in East Africa: 

Mainstream development bypassing the extreme and chronically poor

Economic growth and policy response has been largely unsuccessful in adequately addressing issues that affect the poorest, most marginalised and vulnerable groups in East Africa, despite it being one of the world’s fastest growing regions today. Between 2000 and 2010 the size of East Africa’s economy more than doubled in real terms, from US$32 billion to US$79 billion. If Rwanda (currently growing at an average of 7.7%), Tanzania (6.8%) and Uganda (7.2%) maintain their growth momentum and Kenya (3.7%) accelerates, it is expected that they will reach middle-income status around 2022. Over the past decade average regional growth was estimated to be as high as 6.3%. Per capita incomes were US$1,061 which means that, in theory and on average, every East African was entitled to approximately US$88 a month or US$2.97 a day (more than double the  US$1.25  a day poverty line).

Yet despite its impressive economic growth trajectory, East Africa has remained one of the world’s poorest regions. According to the World Development Indicators and the Human Development Index 73% of the region’s population was living in multidimensional poverty in 2011; 52% of people were living below US$1.25 a day; and about 44% were living below nationally-defined poverty lines. In 2011, 135 of every 1,000 East African children died before their fifth birthday; 608 of every 100,000 women died in the process of giving birth; and nearly 58.4% of all East African children suffered from stunted growth.

Despite large investments in the areas of health, education and other public goods, barriers remain that preclude the poor from effectively and adequately accessing and utilising these resources. The chronically poor are often bypassed for a number of reasons. Firstly, mainstream development programmes operate on a large scale, meaning that nuances in the depth and diversity of poverty can be overlooked. Secondly, many state-led programmes assume that income alone can lift households out of poverty. Finally, the most deprived and vulnerable groups are often either unaware of government services, programmes and resources or lack the empowerment to demand for them.

Social protection presents a strategic opportunity to ensure that economic growth policies co-opt redistribution and respond to the problems and needs of the poorest. It aims to reduce social and economic risks and vulnerabilities, empower people in extreme poverty and guarantee a minimum standard of dignity for every individual throughout their life.

There is increasing awareness of the need to include social protection as a critical part of the mix of mainstream public goods that the state is obliged to provide and maintain. The Ouagadougou Summit (2004) vouched for enhanced coverage of effective and adequate social protection programmes across the continent. Through the Livingstone Call for Action (2006) fourteen participant countries committed to recognise social protection as a basic human right and integrate it into their developmental plans. The Social Protection Floor (2009) aims to support countries to plan and implement sustainable elements of social protection systems. In East Africa, constituent states are increasing efforts to institute coherent and coordinated social protection responses. Existing social protection programmes revolve around social security, hospital insurance, pension schemes, cash transfers and social assistance programmes.

However, the depth of social protection is still limited and fragmented in East Africa, which results in duplication and inefficiencies. Current social protection instruments do not reach a large section of the population (only about 10%). At the East African Community (EAC) level, little attention has been granted to establishing an East Africa-wide policy. Neither the EAC treaty (1999) nor the Common Market Protocol (2010) recognises social protection as a right, but merely as an aspect of social welfare. None of the countries in East Africa have ratified the ILO communication No 102 on social security (minimum standards) of 1952. Even the EAC strategic plan for Gender, youth, children, social protection and community development (2011-2015) portrays social protection in a narrow sense, focused on reducing vulnerability. With the exceptions of Kenya and Rwanda, most EAC states lack formal social protection policies and legislative provisions around recognising social protection as a right are vague.

There are marked variations amongst member states around the conceptualisation of social protection and levels of commitment, which highlights the need for minimum standards and comparability across the region. Stakeholder must now converge and explore avenues through which donors, governments and non-state actors can work actively towards embedding social protection as a critical part of the mix of mainstream services that every state in East Africa is obliged to provide and maintain.

A 4-Point Policy Proposal to East Africa on the discovery of oil and gas in the region

This is an excerpt of a blog I wrote for Development Initiatives following up on the round table forum on the discovery of oil and gas in East Africa's and what it means for the region's poor held at the Hilton, Nairobi on Tuesday 3rd July 2012. This was a multi-stakeholder forum that converged key policy makers from government, civil society, the media, academia and other citizen representatives in Kenya. The Panel comprised: Tech Blogger, Robert Alai–Techmtaa; Maragua MP and Chair House Committee on Budget, Hon Elias Mbau MP–Kenya Parliament; Director Economic Affairs, Henry Rotich, Ministry of Finance–Kenya; Charles Abugre–UNDP; Kwame Owino, CEO- Institute of Economic Affairs – Kenyaand Social Justice Activist Okiah Okoiti Omtatah. Moderated by Charles Onyango-Obbo –Executive Editor for Africa and Digital Media Division, NMG

"If we are walking on gold, then why are we so poor” – sentiments of a Ghanaian Elder

Development Initiatives’ Africa hub hosted its first Africacounts round table forum on 3 July 2012. The purpose of the forum was to stimulate honest and constructive dialogue about the potential role natural resource revenues can play in addressing poverty, deprivation and inequality in the East African region. The outcome was the production of evidenced-based and inclusive policy messages to influence the use of East Africa’s newfound natural resource wealth for eradicating extreme and chronic poverty. It was a multi-stakeholder forum that converged key policy makers from government, civil society, the media, academia and other citizen representatives in Kenya. The forum situated the discovery of natural resources such as oil in Kenya and Uganda and natural gas in Tanzania within a poverty context, highlighting the potential impact that these resources and revenues could have on development in the region. Participants discussed the history of natural resource extraction on the continent and the prospects for East Africa.

Four key issues emerged from the discussions to inform policy decisions in the region:

 I: Develop robust fiscal policies to facilitate the effective management of emerging natural resources in order to optimise the opportunities that they could bring.

“The answer to effective utilization of East Africa’s natural resource find to address poverty and the pressing developmental challenges lies in treating the discovery of oil and gas as a public finance management issue.”

Henry Rotich, Ministry of Finance, Kenya

There needs to be reform within budget structures to allow flexibility in revenue allocation and in order to prioritise key development issues within pro-poor sectors. Suggested ways forward:

· expand the oil footprint in the economy instead of focusing on oil revenues as the driver of growth and for delivering public goods

· design and execute effective tax regimes that maximise on revenues from investors but also maintain a reasonable tax package to enhance the citizen stake in governance

· challenge the state’s role in the management of emerging resources and develop alternative modalities for managing and sharing the proceeds from natural resource discoveries

· increase citizens’ stake in oil production through the institutionalisation of mechanisms for key stakeholders, such as citizens and the government, to invest in the whole value chain in oil production.

"Why must the state dominate the management of emerging natural resources? Could we think outside the box?”

Kwame Owino, CEO, Institute of Economic Affairs

 II: Open information and increase civil knowledge. East African countries should commit to putting information about emerging natural resources into the public domain so that processes and procedures are more transparent. Greater effort needs to be made to enhance e-governance, develop open data initiatives and formulate right-to-information legislation.

“Put information about the actual oil find, terms entered into, agreements with multinationals and modalities for monitoring flow of revenue to the public… [...] Oil needs very careful control, open consensus with the public. [...] It is cash, a key foreign policy commodity.”

Charles Abugre, UNDP

III: Develop and maintain laws, effective institutions and policies capable of managing resources, regulating exploitation and ensuring maximum benefit for citizens. The function of a legislative and institutional framework should be to regulate revenue-sharing formulae, tax regimes, policy and legislative space for civil society organisations (CSOs) and citizens’ representatives. Without such regulation, profits from natural resource discovery can often lead to poor governance and corruption.

“Petro-dictatorship: Oil and gas find might herald an era of strong dictatorship in East Africa…”

Kwame Owino, CEO, Institute of Economic Affairs

IV: Increase citizen engagement in CSO and media space. There has been significant expansion in public engagement and participation in recent years. This emerging space provides an opportunity for CSOs and the media (especially new media) to play a critical role as citizen representatives to ensure that policy makers prioritise their needs when overseeing the management of East Africa’s natural resource wealth.

“Civil society, social justice activists and the media (including social media) shouldn’t wait for government to pass laws then complain.”

Robert Alai, Blogger Techmtaa, Kenya

The media and CSOs need to ensure that governments are held to account and are transparent about natural resource revenues. They must be proactive in influencing government action such as challenging malpractice, pushing through policy suggestions, proposing new or revised legislation in order to maximise the benefits of natural resources in addressing chronic poverty.

“We have been unable to effectively utilise what we have: that’s why we are poor.”

Okoiti Okiah Omtatah, Social Justice Activist

Follow this link for detailed information about the Africacouts round table forum