Introduce quotas to help Kenyans from poor backgrounds marry into wealth

Statement on the need for relationship quotas by Best Kenya - the only genuine human rights organisation

The introduction of the new quota system that gives pupils from public primary schools a chance to attend national secondary schools is timely. We laud the government for implementing this long overdue policy that will promote a more equal society.

The government should now go a step further to ensure that only students from public secondary schools attend public universities and other public institutions of higher learning. In the same vein, only graduates from public universities should be employed in the public sector. This will complete the whole equality equation.

In the spirit of providing equal opportunities to all Kenyans, the government should also introduce other quotas to bridge the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor.

As the only genuine human rights civil organisation, it has come to our attention that it is not only the education system that needs these quotas. There are many areas in the Kenyan society that require deliberate government intervention if we are to achieve vision 2030 in the next twenty years and the time to act is now.

We all know how important relationships are to the achievement of the above-mentioned vision. In fact without relationships, the Kenyan state as we know it would probably degenerate into an unstable country. Relationships are the basic unit of the Kenyan society and the government must acknowledge the crucial role they play in the stability of our beloved country.

The current situation makes it difficult for poor people to marry into riches and kiss poverty goodbye. Young women who try to win the affections of richer men have been incorrectly labelled gold-diggers; when in reality they are just working towards the personal achievement of vision 2030.

We are, therefore, asking the Minister for Gender to come up with a policy to ensure equal opportunities for all in accessing rich spouses. Bearing in mind that people from poor backgrounds may have difficulties meeting wealthier marriage partners, the Minister should issue a directive to the effect that all rich Kenyans are compelled by law to marry economically disadvantaged citizens. This will go a long way to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and create a more equal society.

This policy should be implemented in the next four weeks. If the ministry does not heed our call, we will mobilise all citizens who desire a better Kenya in mass protests like those that happened recently in Tunisia until this issue is resolved.

We are also preparing a list of other areas where quotas should be applied to address historic inequalities in this country.


Signed this 17th January 2011

Hakim Mzalendo
Chairman Best Kenya