Ethnic Hiring in Kenya as A Development Concern

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue V, May 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Ethnic Hiring in Kenya as A Development Concern

Betty Muthoni, Njagi,
Department of Economics, The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, P.O Box 62157, Nairobi, Kenya.
Corresponding author

Abstract: Ethnicity is a very sensitive and emotive subject that is not publicly discussed in Kenya when it comes to economic and social issues. But ethnicity has been known to influence our way of life in many ways especially politics and social interactions. However little regard has been paid to how ethnicity influences hiring in Kenya which has left many ethnic groups marginalized when it comes to employment. This study seeks to find the logic of employers’ ethnic hiring and how they deal with ethnicity when hiring to ensure competitive hiring when under pressure from different parties and in the interest of the organization’s growth and profitability. The study undertakes a desk review of theoretical and empirical studies and policy documents. This is done by looking at Kenya’s hiring and ethnicity environment. The study found there is lack of economic logic in ethnic hiring in Kenya and it is a social attitude that lacks substantive economic backing.

Keywords: Ethnicity, Hiring, Logic, Development, Business

I. INTRODUCTION

The paper provides a full analysis of how ethnicity enters the market to influence hiring not giving the employers much of an option to hire competitively an aspect not considered before in Kenya. Where there is labor market discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, it implies the disadvantageous and differential treatment of minority group members on the basis of their ethnic characteristics (Gaddis, 2018). This could mean non-inclusion of minority ethnic groups who were not hired competitively even when they are qualified for the jobs they seek. Ethnicity and group based hiring have profound socio-economic effects on the development of many countries in Africa which includes Kenya (Chua, 1998). This makes economic progress and eventual development a herculean task because ethnic divisions have permeated most African countries.
Kenya is a multi-ethnic society and has more than 44 ethnic groups that live side by side in relative peace. Economically Kenya is well endowed with vast rich resources and is relatively stable with incidents of political unrest every electioneering year mainly because of what is believed to be ethnic conflicts. KNBS (2019) reports that the country has a population of 47.5million according to its population census in 2019. To the World Bank (2016), Kenya is a developing country with an average economic growth rate of 5.8% but unfortunately Kenya’s economic growth is very cyclical because of ethnic politics. In 2007 the economic growth rate was at 6.9% and after the disputed presidential elections it dropped to 1.7% in 2008 (World Bank, 2016).

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