This archive report was first published on 12 January 2020.
January 12, 2020, marked a day when a common misconception about poverty was laid bare. The argument that poor people are lazy and sleep too much is not only an ageing thought but also an insult to every hard-working Kenyan.
It's a notion that has been perpetuated by false examples, such as the idea that waking up at 4am and getting on the road will reveal wealthy people heading to work while the lazy poor are nowhere to be seen. However, this is far from the truth.
Many poor people are the hardest workers, forced to take on jobs that make us gag, like washing public toilets or selling goods on the streets. They are the ones who wake up at 3am to go to the market, the chapati and mandazi sellers, the matatu and bus operators, and the fruits and water hawkers who brave the traffic no matter the weather.
These individuals and many others keep the economy moving, yet they are often mocked as being lazy. This kind of thinking must stop, as it's demeaning, harmful, and diverts attention from the fact that poverty is a structure, a leadership failure, and not an individual's flaw.
Poverty is a rooted structural strategy that has existed for years to keep the benefits of labour reserved for a few individuals. It classifies people into informal and formal work, certifying one form of work as professional and payable in dignity, while rendering the other menial and payable in indignity.
Blaming people who are doing their best to survive structural monsters is not the way. Instead, we should focus on addressing the root causes of poverty and providing opportunities for those who are struggling to make ends meet.
