Category: Kaitlin

Kisii, Kenya

On a Thursday night at Dan’s Hotel Restaurant in Kisii, Kenya, my fellow Kisii Konya Oroiboro Project (KIKOP) interns and I sat around a dimly lit booth with the KIKOP Project Coordinator, Anne. Our eyes were glued to the television screen across the room, watching the Kenyan Parliament’s second vote on the Finance Bill 2024. We had been to Dan’s several times – it was a quiet restaurant close to our hostel where we often enjoyed matoke (a dish of bananas and tomato sauce) and french fries – but never had we seen the crowd that then formed around the bar, faces drawn in concern as their MPs voted on whether to approve substantial tax increases across Kenya on necessities like bread. It felt like the entire city was collectively holding its breath.

“What will happen if they pass this bill?” I asked Anne as an MP on the television screen stood up to cast his vote. Riots will happen, Anne said. People will die.

Murmurs of displeasure rippled around the room as the Parliament’s decision appeared on screen. The bill had passed by over 100 votes. Now the Finance Bill 2024 only needed to pass its third reading before being signed into law by President Ruto.

As riots broke out across Kenya in the next week, we were asked to stay in our hostel. We watched from the roof as protesters marched past on the road in Kisii, their voices carried on the wind. From our removed bubble, we saw the news unfold and police brutality claim the lives of over 20 people six hours away in Nairobi, hearing pundits repeatedly chalk it up to Gen Z and their violent defense of their ideals, and President Ruto label it “anarchy.” It was simultaneously surreal and visceral – here was a movement of Kenyans protesting peacefully against a proposed 16% levy on bread, eggs, onion, and potatoes that would make it that much more difficult to get by, and they were met with water cannons and live ammunition.

In June of 2023, the Kenyan Parliament had passed a similarly controversial Finance Bill. This bill included substantial income tax increases, a mandatory housing levy, and an 8% increase in value-added tax (VAT) on petroleum products.¹ Despite these measures, in December 2023, Kenya’s external debt had risen to over 6 trillion Kenyan shillings (Ksh), (about 45.5 billion U.S. dollars).² Kenya’s Finance Bill 2024 is the latest attempt made by the Kenyan government to control the country’s debt. It includes provisions such as a 5% increase on all money transfers through Kenya’s primary mobile money service, M-PESA, a 25% excise tax on cooking oils, and a 16% VAT on bread and other staples.³

In response to the deadly protests against Finance Bill 2024, President Ruto refused to sign the contentious bill into law, and fired almost his entire cabinet. Nevertheless, Kenyans are calling for his resignation. Their discontent stems from decades of corruption in Kenyan politics, which has fostered an entrenched distrust in the government, and President Ruto in particular. In 2022, the National Ethics and Corruption Survey found that 64% of people in Kenya reported that they had paid bribes to access government regulated goods and services including procurement of business licenses, police protection, and accessing essential services like healthcare.⁴

Three posters for Total Shutdown Tuesdays, which have occurred every week since the initial protest against Finance Bill 2024.

In the scramble for a temporary solution, President Ruto has decided to initiate 177 billion Ksh (~1.3 billion U.S. dollars) in budget cuts to governmental entities, including suspending the office of Chief Administrative Secretaries and removing all extensions past 60 year-retirement for all civil servants.⁵ One thing is for certain: this is not a permanent fix.

As Kenyans continue to protest Ruto’s presidency, we are wrapping up the in-person portion of our practicum and getting ready to fly out of Nairobi. Something I have been grappling with is how to stand in solidarity with Kenyan youth, given that this internship position is a six-week visit in the midst of an issue that has spanned several years. Participating in the dissemination of information is a tangible action that I’ve taken part in, but this is bigger than a few weeks of riots – this is something that will likely continue for the next several months. Moving forward, I’ve realized that while this practicum has flown by quickly, the relationships I have built with the KIKOP staff, interns, and volunteers have nurtured a more permanent tie to Kenya, for which I am deeply grateful, and don’t take lightly. I am hopeful that the political shifts that ensue over the coming years will protect and support the health and wellbeing of Kenyans, but in the meantime, I will continue to stay on top of current events and work to support the changes that they seek in my capacity as a student, a voter, and a public health professional.

– Kait

 

1. MZALENDO TRUST ANALYSIS OF THE FINANCE BILL 2023. May 2023. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://mzalendo.com/media/resources/Mzalendo_Trust_Analysis_of_the_Finance_Bill_2023_cqmBhgN.pdf.
2. Cowling N. Kenya: External Debt 2023. Statista. March 18, 2024. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1223191/cumulative-external-debt-of-kenya/#:~:text=As%20of%20December%202023%2C%20the,of%20the%20country’s%20total%20debt.
3. Magale E. Kenya protests show citizens don’t trust government with their tax money: Can Ruto make a meaningful new deal?: University of Pretoria. Kenya protests show citizens don’t trust government with their tax money: can Ruto make a meaningful new deal? | University of Pretoria. July 17, 2024. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://www.up.ac.za/faculty-of-humanities/news/post_3242063-kenya-protests-show-citizens-dont-trust-government-with-their-tax-money-can-ruto-make-a-meaningful-new-deal.
4. Onyango G. Hotbed of corruption: Kenya’s elite have captured the state – unrest is inevitable. The Conversation. June 30, 2024. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://theconversation.com/hotbed-of-corruption-kenyas-elite-have-captured-the-state-unrest-is-inevitable-233562.
5. Nyamori M, Langat P. President Ruto announces sh177bn budget cuts. Business Daily. July 5, 2024. Accessed July 18, 2024. https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/economy/ruto-announces-sh177bn-budget-cuts–4680590.

 

Kisii, Kenya

The hums of motorbikes and brays of grazing cows pervade the bustling community of Kisii, a town of over 100,000 nestled in the hilly highlands of western Kenya. For the next six weeks, I will be working as a project intern with the Kisii Konya Oroiboro Project (KIKOP)—a community led organization that aims to address maternal and child mortality through facilitating peer-to-peer Care Groups of mothers, home visits to monitor the wellbeing of mothers and their children, youth education programming, and strengthening of the existing healthcare system to support maternal, child, and reproductive health. As I transition to life seven hours ahead of North Carolina, I’ve noticed that KIKOP has been going through a few transitions of its own.

Last year, KIKOP shifted from manual data collection to the use of a new digital data system called Meaningful. Using the Meaningful app on their tablets, Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) collect information during home visits with women who are pregnant or have recently given birth in the Kisii County catchments of Matongo, Iranda, and Nyagoto. At these home visits, CHVs are responsible for checking in with the wellbeing and health education of mothers to promote maternal and infant health. One of my primary tasks this summer will be to support the KIKOP team in the shift to using Meaningful by hearing the perspectives of CHVs who are using the new system and compiling the data they collect to create a visualization dashboard for maternal and child health indicators.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few days before I arrived, another major change for KIKOP came when the team relocated from a one-room building within the Kisii Teaching & Referral Hospital’s medical complex to a three-story building minutes from the Iranda catchment. This new office includes a ground-floor game room where teens from the surrounding area can relax and enjoy playing pool or watching TV before they attend lessons on topics such as STI prevention, mental health, sexual and gender-based violence, and teen pregnancy. (The teens wait outside the office gate each morning excited to play pool – they’re very passionate about the game, and even study advanced pool moves on their phones in their down time). The offices upstairs include a meeting room for the KIKOP Board, a classroom for the local youths, and physical records spanning back to when KIKOP began.

The work that KIKOP is doing has created a monumental shift in the quality of care that mothers and children receive in Kisii County; over the past several years, KIKOP has reached thousands of pregnant women and families in Matongo, Iranda and Nyagoto. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to be learning from the KIKOP team and the community in Kisii, and I hope to contribute my public health knowledge to support this wonderful group of people. I’m looking forward to the next few weeks!

Kait