It’s tough times for everyone. “There’s no money,” “I have not been paid,” “I’m broke” and “it’s happening to everyone” are the new vocabularies in town. We have seen help going to the lower class, both food and rent relief.
I don’t know about the rich, maybe they are doing just fine. I’m here for the middle-class people. How are they coping? What has happened to that individual staying in Ruaka, Buruburu, Kilimani, Syokimau, who has lost his/her job, exhausted his/her savings, is sleeping hungry and is about to face eviction?
Is there any sort of help going out for them? Who is looking out for them? I believe we are all humans and we all need empathy regardless of our status in life. If everyone has been affected, then everyone should be helped.
stevekang
gthats how its it https://www.google.com/
Dennis Nyambane
The middle class in Kenya are the majority, sadly they can’t speak in one voice for them to be heard.
We are on our own
Wanjeri Thea
We are on our own. Survival to the fittest. May those with the best immune system make it. 🙁
Edell Indiasi
Wanjohi will tell us money has been set aside to hit the businesses worst hit by the pandemic. Which criteria do they even use to know which business has been worst hit?
Aggrey Mogire
No each and every
No each and everyone needs help
Amelea Chelsea
Exactly what I’m saying.
Faustine Nyamira
I am so sick of all the $#!& that is happening now. My story will never be told because I am all alone. I wish there was a protest right now because I would be on the forefront! #AngryKenyan
Amelea Chelsea
I totally feel you. Take heart you are not alone.
Aggrey Mogire
Feel free
Phanice Wamukota
I do not know what category I would fall under, but definitely not the rich. I have not received any aid from anyone which probably means I am middle class? My business is small, but for a while, my kids and I survived on the monthly accumulation of the profits without much strain. Usually, we are able to even save a little aside depending. With the COVID outbreak though, it looks like everything has come to a standstill. I have managed to pay rent for the past two months off the savings I had, which has definitely interfered with the plans I was saving for. It only means I have not been able to service my business loan or the monthly installments in an effort to clear balance for the small piece of land I am trying to purchase. If this continues, I will deplete my savings, fail to afford rent, fail to keep my business afloat as well as fail to service my loans, and scheduled installments altogether.
I get it that the middle class may not be in immediate danger of starving to death, I get it that we may still be able to afford some medication and a roof over our heads, that together with our children we have enough clothing for covering….for now. If shit doesn’t turn around though, that is where we are headed. And whether the government sees it or not, we run this economy. On our good days, we are the buyers and sometimes sellers in our small capacities. So yes, I concur, we all need help. Probably in different ways but we. Because if none comes and soon, then the economy will be affected beyond recovery.
Amelea Chelsea
Oh wow!
Amelea Chelsea
Oh wow! It shall be well. Yes, I second you. The middle class runs this economy. I hope the government soon will take note of that and treat the middle class people equally as everyone else.
Linnie waGC
great question!! I have been thinking about it for over a day and still can’t answer properly.
first, I think a lot about “the one with the greatest need” hogs the attention. like in a family with one chronically sick child? most attention goes to that one sick child which leads to “partial” neglect of the healthy child. The very poor needed help help from day 1 – so focus was directed there. by the time the middle class started to “need help” focus was exhausted or focused elsewhere.
secondly. the middle class needs bigger help so authorities that be may not see it as an affordable option. rent in these estates is higher, and so is life quality, it is assumed that the middle class has “material” capital they can turn into money. asking for money for food while you have a car parked outside is not taken seriously. so “charity” givers expect the middle class to exhaust their “material” capital, become poor, before they can be helped in a crisis. sell the TV. sell the fridge.
Pat Kui
Great question. I’m not sure I would use the word forgotten. Perhaps the government doesn’t see them as a priority for any kind of aid, they are more focused on the low income groups. If we are to be honest with ourselves, a good number of the middle class live lives we can barely sustain, neck deep in debts ( I know some are necessary). And one paycheque away from poverty. All we can do for now is take this as a huge lesson, re adjust our lives accordingly moving forward.
Amelea Chelsea
??????
Well said! The middle class takes it all. The good, the bad and everything in-between. You don’t have to be dying to need help. We are all humans and have equal rights to access help in such tough times.
Zach Kudumela
Hi everyone, this is such a brilliant question because it’s so eye opening and speaks to the voiceless and one class or group of people that’s often neglected in society and deemed to be coping. But, is the middle class really coping? I think not. Covid-19 has really shown us how unequal we are and that the middle class is not actually doing well, the middle class is one salary away from being poor, most middle class folk are in debt and live hand to mouth. As much as we have all been affected by this pandemic, some worse than others, the middle class folk haven’t really been assisted financially or otherwise, a payment holiday might help you today but it just means one is more in debt and for a longer period as your loan will be adjusted and this will result in longer payment period. Middle class is misunderstood and no one is willing to help them however they continue to help the rich make their billions and are expected to help the poor meanwhile no one is helping them.
Amelea Chelsea
You’ve said it as it is. The truth that we all need to hear.
Nhial Deng
Excellent discussion above! The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown has the big gaps between those who have and those who don’t have. It has taught us that none of us are equal until all of us are equal. Everyone is our society is affected in one way or the other. What we need most now is cooperation because we can only overcome this together. No one in our society should be left behind!
Wellingtone Edaki
It is a strainingbperiod to be in.All sectors have been affected differently and the aid targets the most vulnerable people- class target.
Forgotten might be a strong word, but prioritised help is.No use of political correctness. The reduction in Taxes and levies was away to cater for all, including middle class.
Yes, there are those in worse position as middle class.There are those faring well.For those with business, farm etc as sole business/partnership there has been an ease on mortgage and loan repayment.A safe haven period.
All other private matter to which the government is not directly involved such as rent is a matter of choice by the Landlord to waiver the rent or make a reduction on its payment.Or even give a grace period for payment.
There are also private individuals and groups who assist each other and peeps within and far away from their areas.
Amelea Chelsea
Forgotten should be the word. No one cares about the middle class. They slave for the rich and they help the poor. Do those 2 group of people realize they exist? I don’t think so. I meant to understand that their are people recieving 3k weekly and food in some areas but no one has cared to come to the rescue of the middle class family that can’t keep it together.
Kingwa Kamencu
Good question….. Strangers have been messaging me on Twitter to ask for help. Middle class folk. This group is often thought of as self sufficient but most people live precarious lives in the city.
Kavoi
It is an impossible situation for many and it is highly likely that the middle class get “forgotten” during a time like this. They watch their businesses crash and burn, they are looking at the end of their money, they are recieving threatening demand letters and facing possible evictions for those that are renting. They are not considered the lower percentile and therefore in an economy like ours, they have to sort themselves out.
Guys are being forced to change their lifestyles overnight. Others have to move out of their homes (and even then, they have zero funds for deposit in a new abode). People are being made to make impossible decisions in order to survive. Then because you are assumed to have made it because you had a high flying job before corona, nobody expects you to be asking for help. We are all meant to have six months worth of savings (who does though? The majority live from paycheck to paycheck and from loan to loan)
Auctioneers having a field day but guess what? There is no one to buy. No one should be forgotten, everyone needs help, everyone at this time needs support. Infact I believe the world will need therapy once we make it to the other side of this. We have been bruised, battered and irreversibly altered by this pandemic.
Don Caleb Nyagudi
Yes, it’s evident that this is a concern. People are on unpaid leave, others laid off , businesses are not doing well and many more. But who owns these SMEs and are mostly employed? The middle class. So their lives are practically the most affected by this pandemic and have been surviving on their own savings.
Custen Muperi
I’ll give reference to my country Zimbabwe. The middle-class have also been victims of this pandemic and its subsequent curbing measures. These people used to go to work on a day to day basis working the 8-5 but with lockdown they were stuck at home. Companies closed and were not getting any revenue. The lucky individuals managed to work from home also depending on the nature of their jobs, the unlucky ones who are the majority were just stuck at home.
In as much as the Gvt would urge companies to continue paying their employees during the lockdown, it was/is not feasible. With the high inflationary economic environment in the country, even individuals cannot plan ahead or save. The value of money deteriorates by the day and the best solution will be buying foreign currency and saving money as forex.
However, the middle-class individuals are not getting paid much, a month’s salary may be just equivalent to that month’s expenditure or even slightly less. This then means you can never save when the money you have cannot even sustain you the month.
The government hasn’t done much for the poor but it has done nothing at all for the middle-class.
Michael Kirwa
Kenyan middle-class can’t be helped. I wish I was an economist to explain that better.
Angela Tsitsi
The middle class are to blame for their own predicaments. They live in affluent places and stay silent during injustice of the poor. They never attend protests and they are also too busy with their work and fun to take note of the issues affecting the nation.
With all their education and privilege, they do not participate in politics as voters or otherwise do what things like this happen, why should them be considered?
Amelea Chelsea
This is classism so you should know. They should be considered because they are human too. You are an example of how messed our society is. My class in life doesn’t mean I should be treated any less human. We all have equal rights and freedoms.
Jerry Rawlings Mutua
I read this and felt it. Here’s something else to think about that I came across:
* * *
My house is about to be locked on 30th may just because I was not able to raise money for my rent. I post it on fb seeking help, I get 2 likes n zero comment. So i send 100 messages to my contact list requesting for a loan of 15, 000/.
Sadly only 10ppl reply. 6 out of the 10 are claiming they can’t help. The 4 who can help tell me ningoje waende bank kesho. Kesho mmoja ako mteja, the other 3 never pick my calls.
So jioni imefika, my hse door is locked. I have no where to sleep. I walk in the dark seeking options bt sadly I meet goons. Fast foward the next day am found dead.
1500 ppl post on my wall how they knew me. How great i was. A committe is formed by my loyal friend.Friends contribute 200,000/- to feed guests at my funeral.
My staff team up and bring another 200k for coffin, tents and chairs.
I am burried in a coffin worth 15k but since they purchased it in a rush they meet a cartel who middle mans it and sells it at 45, 000/=.
Relatives meet again. It’s a rare occasion for them to meet, so for my send off they collect an extra 350, 000/=.
Everyone wants to volunteer in order to appear they r helping. Youth print t-shirts with my image, each T-Shirt costs 1000/=. All the 400 youth pay, so the T-shirt man gets 20,000/- profit from my death.
Everyone wants to speak in my funeral. There is drama all over from people who never knew how I survived. Rumours fly how I was murdered by my friends.
Peolple blame my successful relative for having sacrificed me. Speeches are made on how talented I was. The few friends who supported me don’t get a chance to speak in my funeral though they know the Truth. In fact they are prime suspects for my death.
If you can’t stretch that helping hand to someone when they are alive please don’t raise all this money when they are gone.
#Dont show people Love when they are gone, show them when they need it and alive.
Joanne Rembo
This is so eye opening! That most people only ‘help’ when one is gone. What happened to humanity. It’s so sad. Everyone needs help regardless of their social class. The middle class do need help.