IFA chief executive Maggie Ireri. FILE PHOTO | NMG
It’s good riddance to 2017 which was riddled with biting
drought, a surge in the cost of living and toxic politics that led to
loss of lives, Kenyans have told pollsters.
Three out
of every four respondents to a survey carried out by Trends and Insights
for Africa (TIFA) judged 2017 to be an overall worse year than 2016.
The
survey found that the biggest gripe for most Kenyans was the sharp
increase in the cost of living, followed by political tension.
TIFA
surveyed 1,005 Kenyans above the age of 18. The concerns about high
cost of living and political tension had a ripple effect on the rest of
society, leading to a perception that it was even more difficult to get
hired this year than it was in 2016.
“Basically, 2017
was a bad year for Kenyans. The prolonged election period coupled with
drought impacted negatively on the economy and this resulted in high
inflation and reduced employment prospects,” said TIFA chief executive
Maggie Ireri in the report.
2017 was the year when
maize prices rose to historic highs, as a two-kilogramme packet of maize
sold for over Sh150 before the government intervened with a price subsidy plan.
But
it was more than just the ugali that was affected, drought depressed
overall agricultural productivity, pushing up the prices of milk, beans,
sugar and even basic vegetables.
In May, inflation hit
a five year high of 11.7 per cent. It was a situation that left the
average Kenyan family struggling to put a balanced diet on the table
every day, while the poorest in society were in even more dire straits.
The TIFA research indicates that people from Nyanza
and North Eastern felt these tough economic times the most, with 93 per
cent and 88 per cent, respectively, saying that economic conditions
worsened in 2017.
On the other hand, Rift Valley had
the lowest number of respondents (57 per cent) who felt that 2017 was an
economically worse year than 2016.
The prolonged
electioneering period left Kenyans frustrated and the vast majority (81
per cent) felt that the political climate deteriorated in 2017 in
comparison to 2016.
North
Eastern (100 per cent), Nairobi (93 per cent) and Nyanza (92 per cent)
regions were the most likely to feel that 2017 was worse politically.
Once
more the Rift Valley region was the outlier as only 58 per cent of
respondents said that 2017 was worse than 2016 in terms of politics.
“This
could be an indicator that they did not feel the brunt of local and
national politics in the same magnitude as other regions,” speculates
TIFA.
Respondents from the Rift also had a more positive view about the employment prospects in 2017, compared to 2016.
Respondents from the Rift also had a more positive view about the employment prospects in 2017, compared to 2016.
Overall, 71 per cent of the respondents felt that 2017 offered them worse employment prospects.
2017
was characterised by a series of layoffs as the private sector tried to
adapt to the difficult economic times. In the banking sector alone, at
least 1,900 people had been sacked by October 2017.
At the same time agriculture, which employs majority of Kenyans both directly and indirectly performed poorly due to drought.
While
insecurity was not at the top of concerns among respondents, at least
62 per cent of Kenyans felt that the security situation worsened in 2017
compared to 2016.
Residents of Nyanza and Nairobi,
regions that were particularly affected by election related unrest, were
more unanimous in rating 2017 worse than 2016 in terms of security.
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