Greedy elite are using affirmative action to steal

What you need to know:

  • It’s no brainer that a company owned by the President’s kin shouldn’t be caught circling over government tenders set aside for disadvantaged groups in society like the disabled, youth and women like a vulture.
  • The looting at the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and the National Youth Service wasn’t an isolated incident after all.
  • It is unlikely the other affirmative action funds like Uwezo and Women Fund have been spared.

I’m not entirely sold on affirmative action programmes as a tool for bridging the many inequality gaps in Kenya.

The greedy elite that control power and capital will always follow the money and do their best to undermine the good intentions.

It’s no brainer, for instance, that a company owned by the President’s kin shouldn’t be caught circling over government tenders set aside for disadvantaged groups in society like the disabled, youth and women like a vulture.

The kind of woman envisaged under the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) is way below the station of life of the President’s well-heeled kin.

The sense of entitlement displayed by some characters coming out to defend the indefensible suggests that the AGPO fiasco is just the tip of the iceberg.

The looting at the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and the National Youth Service wasn’t an isolated incident after all.

It is unlikely the other affirmative action funds like Uwezo and Women Fund have been spared.

But it is not just in government business where we see the greedy elite elbowing Wanjiku out of the opportunity queue.

Things look just as bad for Wanjiku in politics where party officials appear to have exploited the constitutional requirement of affirmative action in representation to nominate cronies, relatives and mistresses to Parliament and the county assemblies.

CHAMPIONED WANJIKU'S INTERESTS

How many of Members of Parliament, Senators and Members of the County Assembly nominated to represent special interest groups can honestly say they have championed Wanjiku’s interests?

Not a whole lot of them.

And certainly not the one I see every other day competing with Vera Sidika on who posts the prettiest face on Facebook.

Now, a few greedy and vain characters giving affirmative action an ugly face is no sufficient reason to run away from the policy.

A less greedy leadership might even come by. And there isn’t a single way of dealing with the inequality problem anyway.

But Kenya perhaps has a better shot at becoming a more equal society by taking the tried and tested path of investing in quality education and training.

Quality education for children from poor families or marginalised communities might not necessarily make them rich. But it hands them a realistic chance at lifting themselves and their families out of poverty.

Some might start and run genuine businesses that don’t have to cut corners to win government tenders. The Constitution guarantees free basic education for Kenyan children.

For all its chaos, the free primary education programme introduced in 2003 by the Narc administration provides a good foundation. But it has taken the authorities far too long to solve the teaching, evaluation and management problems that are undermining the quality of education in public schools.

With elite greed running wild, there isn’t a better time for Kenyans to debate the role of the public education system in their lives.