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Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) is  on the spot over failure to meet ethnic balance as required by the Constitution after a new report revealed the seven major tribes account for 306 of the 341 jobs in the council.

Members of the National Assembly’s Cohesion and Equal Opportunity committee accused the institution of perpetuating ethnic imbalance.

Recent recruitment

At a meeting between the committee and Knec’s acting chief executive Grace Karogo, MPs said it was regrettable that even in the recent recruitment by the council, only members of certain tribes were hired. 

According to the Knec report tabled before the committee chaired by Maina Kamanda the seven major tribes—Kamba, Kikuyu, Luhya, Luo, Meru, Kisii and Kalenjin—hold  341 positions at the council while the rest of the country shares the remaining 35 positions.

But despite the over-representation, Karogo said Knec had employed various strategies to ensure compliance with the provision of the law.

MPs Ong’ondo Were (Kasipul), Zadoc Ogutu (Bomachoge Borabu) and Jacqueline Oduol (Nominated) accused the council of failing to address the imbalances despite being in the institution for long.