Kenya at 50: Unrealized Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

This 36-page report reviews the current status of minority and indigenous groups in Kenya. Focusing on Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, it pays particular attention to how legal and policy changes over the last five years have addressed the social, economic, and political challenges confronting minorities. Published by Minority Rights Group International and directed at non-governmental organisations, policy actors, and the media, the report warns that failure to ensure inclusion of minorities and address the anxieties of majorities, particularly in the context of county governments in the run-up to the 2012 elections and beyond, will lead to untold conflict, driving the reform agenda several years back.

The report states that although Kenya’s new Constitution contains numerous positive provisions for minorities and other vulnerable groups generally, the prevailing experience of minorities in Kenya is increased vulnerability. This means that although policy recognition of minorities is an important gain, legislative and administrative implementation remains a challenge. There is a danger that constitutional recognition may not translate into positive developments for minority groups in reality. The report describes the ongoing challenges facing minority and indigenous groups: lack of political participation, discrimination, and weak protection of their right to development.

The report concludes that there has been some success in mainstreaming concerns of minorities in relation to land and human rights, as well as enhancing allocation of public sector funding to meet socialeconomic challenges of communities. Civil society gains in this regard were largely brought about by visible and active campaigns waged through the media and in the streets during the last ten years. However, despite these positive developments, the report states that the prevailing experience of minorities is increased vulnerability. This report also shows that civil society action alone is not enough to ensure increased inclusion of minorities in Kenya’s public life. The state needs to deliberately overcome its attitude towards minorities, which regards the latter as only seeking to veto national processes, especially in the context of development.

Given the complex concentration of minorities within Kenya’s new counties, the report suggests it is imperative that cultural dialogues take place to address the fears of both majorities and minorities as an integral part of nation building. Such a dialogue should push state departments to initiate laws and policies that recognise historical disadvantages and that enable both majority and minority communities to perceive each other as partners in society.

This report argues that it is essential to raise minority groups’ awareness of the provisions of the Constitution and the implications of these provisions for their lives. Among other key recommendations, this report urges the Kenyan state, development partners, and civil society to roll out a comprehensive civil education programme to benefit marginalised communities. This civic education should also target public servants, particularly the police, who are instructed by the Constitution to address the needs of vulnerable groups. The report also urges parliament to legislate to give effect to the constitutional provision on affirmative action for marginalised groups and clarify the land provisions of the new Constitution.