NAIROBI, Kenya – A scathing Senate report has laid bare the extent of ethnic bias in Kenya’s county governments, revealing that 32 devolved units have breached constitutional provisions by overwhelmingly hiring staff from dominant local communities.
According to the report, Bomet County has the worst record, with 97.28 percent of its public workforce drawn from the Kalenjin community.
Elgeyo Marakwet follows closely at 96.30 percent, while Kirinyaga is at 96 percent Kikuyu.
This blatant disregard for Section 65 of the County Governments Act — which caps the number of employees from a single ethnic group at 70 percent — paints a grim picture of exclusion and entrenched ethnic favoritism in the country’s devolved structures.
“The numbers paint a grim picture of entrenched exclusion and deep-rooted marginalisation of minorities within counties dominated by large ethnic blocs,” the Senate committee notes in the report.
In some counties, the dominance is so stark that executive meetings are reportedly conducted in the majority’s language, effectively shutting out minority voices and undermining national cohesion.
The report, compiled using data from the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) and county governments, cites several other counties with similarly skewed staffing patterns. These include:
- Nandi (95.67% Kalenjin)
- Nyamira (95% Kisii)
- Nyandarua (95.57% Kikuyu)
- Kisii (94.3% Kisii)
- Kericho (93.3% Kalenjin)
- West Pokot (93.57% Kalenjin)
- Nyeri (93.66% Kikuyu)
- Wajir (93.1% Somali)
Also flagged are Makueni (92.63% Kamba), Kitui (90% Kamba), Murang’a (93.7% Kikuyu), Baringo (92.93% Kalenjin), Meru (90% Meru), Kakamega (90.68% Luhya), and Vihiga (89.79% Luhya).
Counties such as Kiambu, Turkana, and Uasin Gishu also breached the diversity law, each posting over 80 percent dominance by the Kikuyu, Turkana, and Kalenjin communities, respectively.
The Senate has warned that failure to address this imbalance poses a serious threat to the constitutional principles of equity, inclusivity, and fairness.
Other counties flagged for ethnic dominance include Bungoma (83.6% Luhya), Kisumu (87.69% Luo), Homa Bay (76.98% Luo), Migori (71.77% Luo), and Laikipia (70.6% Kikuyu).
Marginalisation was also noted in Kajiado (70.53% Maasai), Mandera (81.4% Somali), Samburu (76.65% Samburu), Garissa (80.15% Somali), Kwale (75.2% Mijikenda), and Kilifi (79% Mijikenda).
The Senate committee has called for immediate reforms to enforce diversity in county hiring, warning that unchecked ethnic imbalance could erode national unity and undermine the gains of devolution.
