Oxfam report reveals stark inequalities in Kenya's wealth distribution

A new report by Oxfam Kenya, released on November 26, 2025, has exposed the extreme depth of the economic divide in the country.

Titled Kenya's Inequality Crisis: The Great Economic Divide, the document details how a fraction of the population has amassed immense fortunes while millions sink deeper into poverty.

The findings are stark.

The report indicates that the richest 1 per cent of the population now controls 78 per cent of Kenya’s total financial wealth.

This concentration of capital at the top contrasts sharply with the reality for the majority.

According to Oxfam, the 125 richest Kenyans possess more wealth than 42.6 million citizens combined.

To visualise this disparity, the report notes that if the wealth of these 125 individuals were converted into Sh100 notes, the pile would cover nearly the entire Nairobi County.

While the few accumulate wealth, nearly half of the Kenyan population lives in extreme poverty, surviving on less than Sh130 per day.

Since 2015, the number of people living in extreme poverty has risen by 7 million, a 37 per cent increase.

Wage disparity further illustrates the gap.

A CEO in one of Kenya's top ten companies earns, on average, 214 times more than a secondary school teacher.

The report also highlights how national debt obligations are choking public service delivery.

In 2024, for every Sh100 the government collected in taxes, Sh68 was used to service debt.

This massive expenditure on debt repayment leaves little for essential services.

The amount spent on debt is twice the size of the national education budget and nearly 15 times the allocation for the health sector.

Consequently, government spending per primary school pupil has dropped to just 18 per cent of 2003 levels.

The impact on education is measurable.

Children from the poorest 20 per cent of households now receive, on average, five fewer years of schooling than their counterparts from the richest 20 per cent.

Access to healthcare remains exclusive.

Out of a population of over 53 million, only 4 million Kenyans are actively contributing to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) and are eligible for healthcare access.

Women bear a disproportionate burden of this inequality.

While women make up 38 per cent of the formal workforce, their share of labour income is just 62 per cent of that earned by men.

Additionally, women are five times more likely to be engaged in unpaid care work.

Oxfam Kenya Executive Director Mwongera Mutiga termed the situation a deliberate outcome of unjust policies rather than an accidental economic condition.

The report recommends that the government must implement progressive taxation and ring-fence budgets for health and education to reverse this trend.

Oxfam argues that if Kenya reduced inequality by 2 per cent annually, combined with a 2 per cent economic growth rate, the country could triple the rate of poverty reduction compared to relying on growth alone.