Religious Lingual and Ethnic Discrimination in Kenya

Religious Lingual and Ethnic Discrimination in Kenya

Discrimination is the unjust treatment of a particular group of people. This unfair treatment can be because they are not from your religion, linguistics, or ethnic group. Other factors that can make a person discriminative are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy, sex, or religious beliefs. When a person is treated unfairly he or she always fell hurt and angry. A lot of people cannot persevere discrimination, this has made them quit their jobs or even not achieve their goals. Prejudice is common in Kenya. One should understand that the constitution of Kenya 2010 Article 19(3) protects them against any discrimination either directly or indirectly. Although the perception is a general term Kenya, needs to amend its laws and be specific, especially on the long form of discrimination. This will help reduce the few cases that are still found in Kenya. Hence it will encourage people to be who they are without fear of been discriminated.

Kenya is made up of different religion the main religions are Christians and Muslims. Christianity has been having a larger popularity than the Muslims. Hence, most schools are based on Christianity foundation. This has affected the students who believe in the Muslim religion.  Back in 2019 there were some cases of high school principals did not allow female students to wear the hijabs. This was kind of indirect religious discrimination because it is against the Muslims traditions for a female not to cover their head. The matter was taken to the court of Appeal, where the court ruled in favor of the Muslims and they were later allowed to dress the hijabs on top of the school uniform. Regardless of the court ruling most school Christians still discriminate the Muslims by not admitting them to their schools.

Despite of the Christian popularity some of there is still discrimination among them. This is due to the diversification of Christianity religion;Hence, some Christians tend to believe that they worship the true God than others or even judging others on how they do their worships for example the Catholic Church is accused of worshiping idols. This is because they use rosaries during prayers. The other main group of Christians who are discriminated are the Christians who put on turbans ‘wakorino’. They are the most affected group of Christians. Back in 2016 they were not allowed to put on turbans in schools regardless of the school religion. This ended up to the authorities as they request for schools to allow them practice their religious practices. Not only in school but also in the real life. It’s common in Kenya when you meet five people and there is one person in turban you say “I have met four people and one Mukorino.” (The wakorino is a name used to describe the Christians who put on turbans.) Hence, discriminating the person on turban as if he/she is not a person.

The other type of discrimination is lingual. This is where you are discriminated because of the tone articulated with the tongue. Somebodies tone can either be affected by first language accent or size of the vocabulary. Lingual discrimination is somehow related to linguistics; this because people from different linguistic group have different tones when it comes to talking for example the Kisii community in Kenya are known of their speed in talking which make them sound as if they are arguing even if they are not. This has made so many comedians make fun of them, some even sound offensive to the community. Also people tend to laugh at a person because of how they talk. Hence, you might fell discriminated and this can lower your self-esteem.

Employers especially in Kenya tend to be specific on qualification during hiring workers. Regardless if you have all the qualification or not having an audible English accent is always one of your qualification for you to get a job in most of the Kenyan companies. This might not sound like discrimination but it lowers many people self-esteem, making them give up in life. In addition, some coworkers cannot easily get used to some accents. Hence, they tend to always ask their fellow coworkers to repeat this always interfere with some people job performance especially if they are not confident of themselves. Also it is not right for some workers not to be comfortable been around others simply because they backbite them due to their accent. Tone discrimination is illegal especially in most of the developed counties.

The other base of discrimination is ethnicity. This is a common thing in not only in Kenya but in Africa at large. Research has shown that ethnic discrimination is mostly found in urban centers such as Nairobi and Mombasa due to the competition in the job market and also social differences. Kenya is mostly dominated by two main tribe. In Nairobi this two community leave in different area for example Githurai is a kikuyu dominated area while in areas like lucky summer is a Luo dominated area. In this areas you tend to be discriminated if you are from the opposite community. During election this discrimination is clearly displayed. In 2007 the two community killed each other so much such that it created a disaster during this period. The kikuyu business where burn down by the Luo and vice versa. It was such a disaster such that travelling became very difficult. This form of discrimination tend to affect the economy of a country.

The other affected area is the employment world. Some employer are so discriminative such that they cannot employ works unless they are their own tribe. That’s why most offices tend to be dominated by one community. This can affect the business because the employment was based on ethnicity and not skills.  Supervisors can also discriminate people of other community by giving them jobs that need more man power. Other employees can also discriminate their fellow employee and even back bite them for they are not from their own tribe. Ethnicity discrimination can also affect promotion of workers where, promotion is done because you are from a certain tribe.  Also favoritism can be seen when it comes to giving incentives and salary increments where only one community tend to enjoy such benefits while the others do not.  We cannot forget about the giving of tenders. This is also another corrupt area that is affected by ethnic discrimination. Tenders especially in the government are actually given according tribes.

Marriages have also been affected by ethnic discrimination. Where some parents do not allow their girls to intermarry, simply because they fear the other tribe’s tradition or they hate the tribe. This has affected many couple making others to even commit suicide. In case the couple get married against the parents will, some parents even go extend of unfairly treat their grand kids. This can affect the marriage as the discriminated partner tend to react due to the discrimination.

Unfair treatment in Kenya can also be found in places such as supermarkets of hotels. Some hotels and big stores in Kenya only allow a certain ethnic group or race to trade with them, as they try to maximize their profits. While in other only English language is allowed for communication. This might not seem as a discrimination but lowers a certain group of people that cannot communicate the language and are willing to trade with them. When it comes to service delivery some stores always serve people from abroad first and at a higher cost that normal. The local people can feel discriminated for they arrived first at the store.

Not only do the local people treat each other unfairly but also the foreign investors. They employ local people but treat them badly than their own people. Early this year there was a case of China Company that was beating their employers as a way of punishing them for arriving late at work. This is an ethical and even against the human rights. The case was taken to the court of law where the Chinese employers were arrested and later deported to their country. As a Kenyan you stand a chance of been discriminated in your own country by getting a job with an Indian owned. Their Kenyan workers are underpaid and mistreated by the Indian supervisors.

In conclusion, there are many types of discrimination in Kenya that need to be stopped. Unfair treatment can only hurt people or lower their self-esteem. We should know that when workers or student have a high self-esteem this will always it will always boost their performance at work. The employers should also step up and try to set rules against discrimination in his/her company. Not forgetting they should also employ somebody because of his qualification and not his religion, lingual or ethnicity.  The constitution should also be amended and anybody who discriminate the other either directly or in directly should be badly punished. This way Kenya will be a good place to work, school and leave with confidence.