Bahati’s wife Diana Marua has just landed a new gig. The mother to Heaven Bahati has just landed the role of brand ambassador to the online hiring platform M-Waks. According to the M-Waks site, the platform offers an easy solution to connect with vetted blue-collar workers such as house-helps, gardeners, cooks, and plumbers. The website offers access to a large number of workers available for immediate hire for domestic work. Taking to Instagram, Diana shared her joy over the recent appointment.
Diana has previously spoken about her own personal struggles with finding good help for her young family on the reality show ‘Being Bahati’. The new mom appeared on the eighth episode of ‘Being Bahati’ speaking of her domestic woes; where she struggled without good help in the home. Marua went on to complain of the poor hygiene standards of her previous domestic workers and went on to explain some of the aspects of housekeeping she would not compromise on.
A 2017 study backed by the British government put it at a staggering 22% of those aged 15 to 24 in 2016. In 2017, research conducted by the United Nations Development Programme placed Kenya’s youth unemployment rate at 26.2% in 2017 for those aged 15 to 24. With high unemployment rates, many young Kenyans find employment as domestic workers, however, the sector is unregulated with little to no level of standardization.
A report by local press stated “an alarming statistic is that many Kenyans in cities like Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu do not pay the minimum wage. According to the Regulation of Wages (General) (Amendment) Order, 2017 of the Labour Institutions Act, the monthly contract rate for a domestic worker in the three cities is Sh12, 926.55 for those employed on contract, Sh622 for a daily engagement and Sh115.50 as the hourly rate.” The establishment of platforms such as M-Waks and others is a step towards creating standardization in an industry that affects a large percentage of Kenya’s young population.
