Kenya: Legal Hurdles in Population Control

By John Chigiti, 7 November 2012
 
The population of Kenya has been on a steady increase. This has raised concern that if the growth continues unchecked, there will be a population explosion.
The advantages of controlling the population growth cannot be said to outweigh its disadvantages. The population increase is adversely affecting the ever dwindling natural resources, and if it continues to grow any further, the existing resources will not be able to sustain the high population numbers.

This has led to the increased poverty levels, as parents cannot cope with the cost of bringing up children in healthy environments, hence the vicious cycle of poverty.
It is for these reasons that the government is seeking to put up mechanisms to control the population growth. On the other hand, if population increase is not properly and professionally controlled, Kenya is likely to end up like some developed countries, which despite the abundant resources don't have enough labour and workforce to exploit these resources.

These countries have ended up importing expensive labour from outside their countries. An effective population control policy needs to balance the population growth and control.

The millennium development goals provide for, among other things, sustainable population growth and sustainable economic growth. For these goals to be achieved there has to be a balance between population growth and economic growth.
The quest by the government to control the population of its people is in itself justified. In order to ensure that it provides for its people good and reasonable standards of living, which is a duty it owes to the people, it must strike a balance between population growth and the existing economic and natural resources. A very high population will be catastrophic to the economy and quality of life.

Despite the fact that there is need for control of population growth, this has to be done carefully so as not to violate social, family and human rights of individuals.
Each and every person has a right to live their lives freely, and to make personal decisions on the direction their lives should take. The government should therefore employ measures that are acceptable and that will not affect the lives of people.
This should be so because there is no legal framework that governs or controls any measures that the government intends to take in controlling the population of the country. This exposes the rights of the citizens as the government may embark on unorthodox ways of achieving its objectives.

All population control policies or mechanisms should work in such a way that the family rights are not offended. No one should feel micro-managed by population control policies or any legislation that a nation enacts.

In enacting laws that are aimed at controlling the population,the lawmakers have to consult the family.The social and economic rights as guaranteed unde Article 43 of our constitution will be achieved only if the lawmakers understand the family unit first.

There has to be a balance between the number of people in the family and the available resources. The state will only be able to fulfill its obligations of feeding its people if the resources are utilized properly and not exposed to abuse. Abuse can come indirectly if the population growth overstretches and or overwhelms the scarce resources.

Has the time come for the government to dictate the number of children one is entitled to through an Act of Parliament? Some countries have been able to come up with laws to control its population.

A good example is china which has effectively set up and implemented a one child policy rule. This has helped control the soaring population growth.

The importance of having a sustainable population growth cannot be overemphasized. It is the wish of each and every individual to lead a good quality life.

Policies for controlling population are therefore welcome, as long as they don't violate rights of individuals to have the number of children they want.
Governments should embrace persuasive ways of controlling the population, in that it is upto the person to decide and weigh if s/he thinks having fewer children is beneficial or not. Getting children should not be criminalised; it should be voluntary.

The Time for Population Control Is Now

First posted on, June 23rd 2012 on standardmedia.co.ke

Far too many couples that can barely afford to get by are having larger and larger families and putting their children in needless danger.

Evidence of this is available in abundance but for cultural, political, religious and other reasons, nothing is being done to discourage the trend. We believe the rash of child killings and attempted killings that have been highlighted in the media in recent months should be cause for reflection on the state of the family.

All children are constitutionally guaranteed the right to a life of health and equal opportunity. But, in the absence of significant support from parents, providing them with these rights through social welfare spending shall be a challenge for even the most socialist government.

The nation’s population is growing faster than service delivery can be improved. The demands on national revenue are huge and there is a limit to the burden the State can bear.  We commend forward-looking interventions like the public school feeding scheme and the Orphans and Vulnerable Children programme, which attempt to address social challenges.

However, there is clear evidence they are far from adequate even for the specific groups at which they are targeted. The solution isn’t merely expanding them to cover the large number of children at risk, such as those in large impoverished families.

There is already a shortfall in meeting the needs of orphans and the elderly. Rather, we should aim to reduce the number of children at risk. This begins with encouraging Kenyans to have smaller families through education and provision of the healthcare services young mothers require.

We are aware that population control is a politically sensitive issue that few are brave enough to bring up. Political leaders looking to boost ethnic numbers on voter rolls are often quick to call for more births even in areas where grinding poverty is the norm.

Religious leaders, on the other hand, stick to dogmatic positions based on the methods by which control is achieved. This leads to an impasse in which reductions that would be good for the nation remain elusive.

Evidence from countries like Brazil, China and India, which have aimed at low levels of population growth, shows a beneficial correlation between smaller families and prosperity.

Why not seek similar success rather than live with alarming levels of malnutrition, childhood disease and infant and maternal deaths?
Some analysts have argued that rather than bring down fertility rates, Kenya should focus on reducing child deaths. Surviving children, they say, are the best form of birth control. This, however, has not been borne out by experience. Indeed, large families often get larger even in circumstances where this seems foolhardy. In 2008, for instance, a menial labourer in Kyuso District became a father of nine after his wife bore triplets. 

The 41-year-old man was forced to seek the help of his ageing parents to care for the children. Yet to most Kenyans, the births of Samuel Kalonzo, Seth Raila and Saulo Kibaki was cause for celebration not a cautionary tale about unplanned families. Another family of nine that comes to mind was that of Jamin Mukobero, driven to mass murder by life’s frustrations.

Far too many of the 1.5 million or so children born every year enter families already too large for parents to handle. When disease, separation, misadventure or other misfortunes rob such families of one of the breadwinners, they go from living in crisis to full-blown breakdown.
As reported elsewhere in this paper, some of the parents left struggling with large families of their own or children from other relations succumb to their frustrations with alarming regularity. Interventions to deal with this issue need to be devised urgently, both in the short term and long term.

Our recent census results are a wake-up call to the nation on population stresses and competition for natural resources. Kenya is not a rich country.

The discovery of oil, which can have a significant transformative effect on the economy, may tempt the Government to carry the weight of the larger families. This, however, would be ruinous in the long term by encouraging a population boom that will bring down living standards in the long run.
A hard look at other available resources shows that expecting to support a large population is a dangerous proposition.

Kenyans are already among the most taxed in the world, forking out heavily for both income and expenditure taxes, as well as other fees and levies. It is unlikely the few in the tax net will willingly continue to bear the burden of large welfare families.

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke

AFRICA OVERPOPULATION TRAP

When God Balance is Broken
 

Over the last 60 years, the African population multiplied around 5 times, whereas the population of Europe remained almost stable all along that period. The psychological, social, economic, and environmental impact of this has been devastating both on African people and African environment. This was not a mere lack of basic economic concepts on the part of African leaders, but rather a whole neo-colonialist plan to keep African countries overpopulated through what I called in my book Population Bogging Plan. This plan aims to keep African countries growing in population beyond what their economy can support with the main purpose is to maintain the steady flow of natural resources from Africa and enslave Africans in their own land. The book also provides the reader with an in-depth examination of the devastating consequences of overpopulation and the crucial role of a Population Control Policy in building a humane standard of living for Africans and the right criterion for determining the optimum population for each African country and the whole continent.
 
Africans have to realize the real cause behind their poverty and all the bad side effects accompanying poverty (that is overpopulation) and failing to do so, nothing will change. A population control policy is the first step towards a better Africa.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1	The Evil Forces That Are Keeping African Countries Overpopulated	9
CHAPTER 2	Negative Consequences of Rapid Population Growth	48
CHAPTER 3	Determining the Maximum Population That Should Live In A Certain African Country	140
CHAPTER 4	Benefits of Population Control On African Countries	178

 

Length: 231 pages /Format: PDF /File Size:9 MB
Read Here: Towards Better Africa
 

 

 

Blog: Towards Better Africa

New Africa Blueprint (Population Control)

 

TRANSITIONING SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA TO DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY (NEW AFRICABLUEPRINT)

By: Samuel .B. Yonga

Introduction

That Africa has lagged behind in social and economic development is no debate the debate is on real development in Africa, Is the continent truly developing or are we being fooled by numerical data? African nations perpetually occupy the bottom of the UN Human Development Index and the root cause is associated with geographical factors like climate and historical factors like the slave trade which robbed her of the most productive population, Philip Curtin estimated that by 1850 the population of Africa should have reached 100 million. But this is not the subject matter for now. Before revealing the solution we must first dispel the myth that the growth witnessed is of real value. As an African native I can say with surety that in most sub-Saharan countries the growth rates are not a true reflection of the economic reality on the ground .The quality of life began to decline when development could not match population growth. We are not allowed to process most of the raw materials we produce to finished products as this would upset the world economic status quo but there are other channels to use to develop. The current mode of economic growth centered around primary production and limited secondary production will not reveal real prosperity as the rate at which population is growing erodes economic gains such that by the time population steadies the number of people will have far outstripped resources available as the economic situation is far more competitive and less conducive than that of developed countries when they were developing. In short sub-Saharan Africa cannot achieve prosperity with the current policies. This brings us to first solution.

1. POPULATION CONTROL

African countries can transform impressive growth rates into real economic gains by controlling their population thus development is in tandem with population.

The very idea of population control is frowned upon by most but its morality is rarely explored. Having a child is one’s freedom but we know freedom implies responsibility and when one’s freedom injures another there is usually consequence as when you misuse your freedom of movement to intrude into other people property you are charged with having committed crime. If you know you do not have the economic capability to take care of a child and still have one you have most likely condemned that child to a life of poverty and suffering, is that no a crime? You’re freedom has harmed your child and thus there should be consequences as with the intruder, why are there none? One’s freedom of movement is limited and it follows one's freedom to have a child should be limited. What is the use of giving birth to a child that is going to live a life of poverty and struggle ,just because you want a child, is that not extremely selfish? This is the most heinous of crimes as it is condemning someone prior to birth for your own selfish needs.There are four primary principles that should be part of the new population control legislation. Those allowed to have a child should:a)

Only those capable of providing a child with all basic needs of high standards including a stable conducive social foundation, essential secondary needs and good education till secondary level.b)

Anyone who has a child without first getting a license shall be forcibly sterilized both man and woman responsible and part of their combined revenues used to sponsor the child’s needs.c)

People should apply to have children from a certified state organization that determines economic and social capability of a couple having a child before the child is conceived.d)

Anyone without a license to have a child that has one shall face fine sand part of their revenue coming under state control for the child's benefit.Now the question is what the economic and social benefits are. The benefits are far reaching and numerous but I will only state the main ones.First the quality of life will increase as the poor elements in society do not reproduce and hence the cycle of poverty is stopped as only those of sound economic and social health reproduce. In essence poverty is flushed out of society. Second Children are able to attain all essential needs of a high-quality. Third The average citizen is of a far higher quality as he/she has been brought up in a much better environment, this reduces crime rates.Another plausible query is how the general population may take it .Of course if it is implemented all at once there will be uproar and general discontent throughout the population that is why it is suggested that each

principle in implemented in pieces over a period of say 5 to 10 years such that the public find themselves in the situation without knowing how they got there in this way there will be less resistance and any defiance can be managed. The general public is ill informed and may not realize that in the end it is not only the moral thing to do but also best for them.

2. CURBING UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE

We know that many Western countries introduced universal suffrage in the twentieth century despite having democracy for centuries before that.Only when the general population was mature enough was the vote given to everyone yet here in Africa the vote is given to even those who know none of the running candidates. The ultimate result is that the ignorant, easily manipulated and less educated majority has the sway and thus you have countries run and controlled by the least equipped to do so .As I earlier said freedom is not without limits when it infringes on others rights as ones righto vote has a direct effect on others as it determines leaders. Hence voting qualifications should be as follows and apply to candidates as well:a)

One should have education till university or college)

One should have a steady income above a certain level)

One should be of sound mind)

One should never have engaged electoral malpractices The population will again never take this lying down it is thus necessary to modify the electoral procedures such that the general public elect people who meet the above qualifications these people now vote for the actual leaders.

Conclusion

The two solutions are from my observation of the situation in Africa and there are in my opinion necessary if Africa is to save herself from poverty and poor leadership that has bedeviled her.