President William Ruto has launched a KES 500 million annual scholarship programme targeting children from minority and marginalized communities, marking a significant step towards expanding educational access for historically underserved groups. The initiative, announced at State House, Nairobi, during the commemoration of the International Day for Minority Rights, is designed to support learners from disadvantaged backgrounds through both secondary and tertiary education.

This scholarship is the centerpiece of the newly-launched National Policy on Ethnic Minorities, Indigenous and Marginalised Communities (2025–2035). The policy aims to create a concrete legal and institutional framework to ensure inclusion and equitable development for communities that have long faced exclusion. President Ruto emphasized that the programme intends to ensure "poverty is no longer a barrier to talent."

A Multi-Faceted Approach to Inclusion

Beyond the scholarship fund, the government is rolling out a broader set of interventions to uplift these communities. The Ministry of Education will allocate an additional KES 200 million each year to an Education Infrastructure Fund. This money is earmarked for constructing, renovating, and equipping schools and mid-level colleges in regions predominantly inhabited by minority groups.

The President also issued directives to several key ministries to prioritize these areas:

• The Ministries of Water, Roads, and Health, in coordination with the Equalisation Fund, are to focus on providing clean water, access roads, and better health facilities.
• The State Department for Social Protection has been ordered to urgently enroll all eligible families from these communities into existing cash transfer programs to bolster household resilience.
• The government will also cover Social Health Authority contributions for 200,000 vulnerable individuals from these communities.

Institutional Framework for a Lasting Impact

To ensure the policy's long-term success and create a permanent voice for minority concerns, a new Minorities and Marginalised Communities Directorate will be established immediately within the Office of the President. This central unit will coordinate implementation across the government. President Ruto noted, "This guarantees a permanent, authoritative voice for minority concerns across government, with focal points in every ministry and county." Furthermore, county governments have been instructed to establish their own Minority Inclusion Units and integrate the national policy into their development plans.

The initiative targets a wide range of communities who have historically faced challenges, including hunter-gatherer groups like the Ogiek and Sengwer, pastoralists in arid regions, and coastal communities who have struggled with statelessness. The President affirmed that these measures are intended to usher in a new era of inclusion and shared progress, stating that minority communities are central to Kenya's identity and crucial for its long-term peace and prosperity.