The Minority and Marginalized communities in Trans Nzoia County have called for formation of a distinct State Department which they said will help champion their interests fully.
Speaking during a public participation exercise on the Ethnic Minorities and Marginalised Communities Bill, 2025 in Kitale on Friday, the participants said the formation and enshrinement of the state department in the constitution will be the first sure way to ensure their interests and grievances are addressed hailing the government for the formation of the Marginalised Affairs Unit in the Executive Office of the President.
The public participation exercise organised by the Minorities and Marginalised Affairs Unit, brought together participants from nine minority and marginalised communities living in Trans Nzoia.
The nine minority and marginalised groups represented during the engagement were the Bongomek, Ogiek, Asians, Cherangani, Cabiny, Konyi, Sengwer, mau-mau veterans and civil society groups.
“We want to thank the government through President, Dr. William Ruto, for showing goodwill towards the Minority and Marginalised communities. It is on that ground he formed the Minorities and Marginalised Affairs Unit which will help to a greater extend serve our interests.
However. It would be better if we were given an autonomous state department to handle our grievances and interests,” said Konyi representative Gregory Ngeywa.
The community called for compensation for the past injustices and resettlement of all the communities displaced from their ancestral land adding that existing policies and laws to protect the marginalised should be fully implemented if the Bill was to realise any good fruits if it were enacted.
“As a country we come up with very good laws and programmes. The problem lies in the implementation where everything fails. If this bill was to be enacted we are not even sure if it will achieve the desired results since the already existing policies and laws to protect the marginalised and minorities have been ignored,” added Ngeywa.
Cabiny Community through Johnson Masai called for equal economic empowerment and job recruitment opportunities saying that no single person from the community has been absorbed in any capacity by the county government of Trans Nzoia.
Martin Simwota representing Civil Society groups supported the idea of formation of the Minority and Marginalised State Department saying it will help address past injustices and violations by initiating policies and programmes adding that compensation of the affected groups should be a top priority.
Josephat Barasa, representing people living with Disabilities, said there is need for representation of the Minorities and Marginalised in all the legislative houses proposing that the responsibility to pick their representatives should be taken away from political parties who have failed in that area.
“Political parties have failed us big time. We have seen cronies and relatives of who is who in the political parties being picked to be representatives of the minority, people who don’t even belong to the minority and the marginalised groups.
There’s need for a change in legislation to allow representatives of the minority and marginalised
to be voted for at the ballot just like we are voting for women representatives,” he said.
According to Tom Juma, most county assemblies for instance Trans Nzoia do not have representatives for People Living With Disabilities a scenario he described as wanting.
By Isaiah Nayika
