Senator Victor Prengei calls for fair distribution of county jobs

Nominated Senator Victor Prengei has said that he will table a bill in the Senate to compel governors to observe the ethnic diversity rule in public employment.

Mr Prengei said that the National Cohesion and Integration Commission has not addressed the imbalances in employment.

Mr Prengei on Thursday said that in Nakuru County, for example, the dominant communities had taken up most of the jobs.

OGIEKS IGNORED

“The Ogieks and other minority tribes have been ignored when it comes to employment and the only way to reverse this discrimination is to pass a law, I am planning to introduce a bill in the Senate that will compel governors to hire people from the minority tribes,” said Mr Prengei.

He said that should the proposed bill go through, the minority tribes will benefit when it comes to employment in the devolved units.

NCIC has accused governors of focusing on dominant tribes in their counties during employment.

As a result of skewed employment practices, there have been complaints from the minority groups.

“Some governors feel that Ogieks are not well educated and are not fit do certain jobs,” said Mr Prengei.

EDUCATION

However, he dismissed this thinking as “tribalistic” saying, this is as a result of past allocation of education resources in Ogiek and other minority dominated areas across the county by past regimes. He said this has been perpetuated by governors.

“Education is the key to unlocking the potential of Ogiek and other minority tribes, but when the allocation of bursary funds is skewed, how do you expect them to unlock their potential,” he posed.

The senator said that devolution has been undermined by corruption and inter-communal rivalries which has resulted into bloodshed and destruction of property.

He said several people were killed in Mariashoni area of Mau Forest when local communities clashed over land.