NAIROBI, Kenya – The government has unveiled a new Bill seeking to address long-standing inequalities in public appointments and resource allocation among Kenya’s historically marginalised and minority communities.
The Ethnic Minorities and Marginalised Communities Bill, 2025, now open for public participation, proposes sweeping measures to ensure fair representation, equitable resource distribution, and active involvement of every community in national development.
The proposed law seeks to operationalise the equality and inclusion principles enshrined in the 2010 Constitution by requiring all public institutions to guarantee “equality of opportunity and non-discrimination” in their operations.
“Every public body shall, in the performance of its functions, ensure equality of opportunity and non-discrimination against members of recognised communities,” the draft law states.
Under the Bill, both the national and county governments will be required to ensure equitable representation of recognised communities in public service appointments, boards, commissions, and other decision-making bodies.
It also directs public institutions and private employers to take proactive steps to promote the participation of minorities and marginalised groups through targeted recruitment, apprenticeships, internships, and training programmes.
To promote transparency, the Bill obligates every public body to include data on community representation in its annual reports.
New Presidential Unit to Oversee Inclusion
The legislation proposes the creation of a Unit for the Promotion of Minorities and Marginalised Communities under the Office of the President.
The new unit will coordinate efforts to identify eligible communities, collect relevant demographic data, and monitor compliance with inclusion targets.
Communities considered for protection and inclusion will be those with distinct cultural, linguistic, religious, or ethnic identities, small population sizes, and histories of social or economic disadvantage.
President William Ruto has previously underscored the importance of national cohesion and equitable access to resources, framing inclusion as a cornerstone of his administration’s unity agenda.
He has also rallied political players across party lines — including ODM and Kanu — to support a “broad-based inclusion agenda” aimed at strengthening national unity.
Resource Rights and Protection
Beyond representation, the Bill addresses resource-related injustices by mandating “free, prior and informed consultation” for projects affecting community land, resources, or livelihoods.
Developers who violate these provisions could face fines of up to Sh1 million.
“Every recognised community shall have the right to free, prior and informed consultation in relation to any activity, programme or development project that may affect their land, resources, culture or livelihood,” the Bill states.
If passed, the legislation would mark one of the most significant policy steps toward integrating marginalised and minority communities into Kenya’s economic and governance structures — a move observers say could reduce tensions over representation and resource sharing.
