It is possible to achieve ethnic balance in the public service as well as other appointive positions but we lack political goodwill.
It has been an uphill task to achieve a more balanced and equitable public service as those in power and holders of influential positions still want to appoint their friends and relatives.
In Kenya, who you know and not what you know is still the order of the day. We need a serious shift in how appointments are done.
For instance, why should a Cabinet secretary and a principal secretary serving in the same ministry come from the same ethnic community? The net effect of this is that they will end up employing relatives and if not relatives, people from their communities.
This can also be seen in the Executive where Cabinet secretaries are picked mostly from one, two or three communities. This is the reason for the feeling that all Kenyans are not included in the sharing of the national cake.
The Building Bridges Initiative report will not address these challenges unless there is an honest shift in how employment and appointments are done.
Nearly all top appointments in recent months have gone to one ethnic group yet the country's leadership is talking about addressing the issue of inclusivity through BBI.
We should not wait for the report, let it be seen in the appointments being done now.
When you visit government offices, parastatals, counties and public universities, among other public institutions, you will see glaring inequalities in staffing.
We have a law that guides appointments to government positions that is applicable to both the counties and the national government, but it is disregarded. No one is willing to implement it.
There should be a deliberate move to bring on board Kenyans from the marginalised communities.
We have too much of the written law, even the Constitution talks about sharing government resources equitably.
The former chairman of National Cohesion and Integration Commission spoke to the Star
