Wealth hoarded rather than shared impoverishes not just the community but the man who holds it.
By Simon Juma
There is a particular kind of poverty that no bank balance can cure. It belongs to the stingy rich man — the one who owns hundreds of acres in Trans Nzoia yet cannot spare one for a jobless brother, who stores maize while a neighbour’s children sleep hungry, who has thousands in his account but will not pay school fees for an orphan in his own family. His wealth is visible to everyone. Its benefits are felt by no one.
In villages across Laikipia and Trans Nzoia, this figure is well known. He is not admired. He is pitied. For all his land and livestock, he has condemned himself to fear, loneliness, and quiet contempt. He sleeps badly, trusting nobody, counting money he cannot enjoy. A poor man who shares his last meal with a neighbour rests more peacefully than a millionaire clutching a fortune he dare not spend.
The damage extends beyond one man’s sleepless nights. Kenya’s wealth gap is widening, and too many of those controlling the country’s resources have chosen hoarding over investment. Bright children drop out of school for want of KSh10,000 in fees — money a wealthy neighbour could provide without noticing the loss. That child might have become a doctor or engineer. One act of stinginess extinguishes an entire future.
The stingy rich man dies and leaves everything behind. Someone else spends it within months. All those years of accumulation amount to nothing. He never enjoyed it. Nobody benefited. Just a poor man with money.
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