THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONNEL AND INDUSTRIALRELATIONS IN KENYA

BY

EDWARD MURATHI AIVERU

A Thesis submitted in part fulfilment of ther~quiremellts of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS AND ADMINIST~~TION

ln the

Faculty of Commerce.University of Nairobi

May 1975,

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SlJ1vfMARY OF TEEns CO:-!TENTS

T'h i s thesis exam i nr-s Lhe deve Lopmerrt of p=rsonnc l ano inr;'J<:trialrelations in KenyCl since the country \Vas introduced to inter-nationCll c<l.pitaljsmthrough British coloniCllism. As the externalemployment environment greatly influences the personne l po l i c i r-a

adopted by the various employers, a historical analysis of theprocesses that have structured this external environment op0n~the discussion.

It is argued that Britain exported her unemployed to Kenya andsirnu Itaneously effected a systematic disruption of the indigenouseconomies thus sowing the seeds of unemployment for the localpopulation. Extensive land alienation and the concomittantforced labour policies were the initial teChniques used to disruptthe local economies. Moreover, taxation policies coupled Hithcreation of new wants 'vlOrkedto disrupt the indigenous economies.In later colonial period the~e was little need for resorting toforce to acquire labour since already landlessness and otherfactors had ens~red a more or less stable labour force.

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Yet, employment opportunities 1n the modern sector later provedincapable of meeting the increased demand for wage-labQ~r, andby the time of independence, unemployment had become a maiorthreat to the nascent national bourgeoisie. The point to ~mphasiscis that the degree of dislocation of the indigenous economies byfar surpassed the creation- of alternative employment opportunitiesin the modern sector, and this by definition resulted in \memploy-ment.

Harsh treatment of African 'vlorh~rsby the employers was ins ri t o-tionalised. For instance, payment by race characterised both thepublic and the private sector.' The Europeans and Asians enjoyedthe best remuneration while Africans were the least paid even ifthey did the same type of work as members of the privileged races.

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Surpri singly, this ~i s,friminationb~i~g ?ractised by some firms.

!..J

in remuneration is p r-o b.rb l v

The Fo lIow i nq factors largely explain the unemployment pr-obl'~'ns

in Kenya at the moment. First, the unbridled concentration ofthe instruments of production (including land) in a f'ew hand srenders a significant portion of the increasing population'm('mployed since paid employment opportunities are inadeq1.l.otc.SeconcJly, the heavy reliance on foreign investors \olhichstartprjas soon as Kenya boc ame a Br i ti sh colony and has been perpr-r'1aredinto the post-colonial period results in fe\-!employment oppor-tunities being created since these investors prefer to use laboursaving technologies probably due to the uncertainty of the politi-cal future of the country.

Thirdly competi tion be twe en foreign and local investors has playedsome part in creating unemployment. In the de jure colonial era,Africans were not allowed to participate in commercial agricultureor small businesses in towns since their participation in suchac t i vi ties wou l.d have meant diminution of labour suppli es to thef or-ei qn-eowned moder-n sector. Today, some foreign-mmed companiesinvol ve thems eIves in economic acti vi ties whi.ch Africans couldotherwise benefit from.

Finally, foreign companies ensure that the nationals of theircountries of orig.in dominate top management positions. AsIIesseling has observed, in key managerial positions abroadexpatriate manage:s are over-represented.a This is particularlyevident in Kenya. Thus employment opportuni ties wh i ch couldotherwise have been open to Afri~c:ns are occupied by foreignersmost of whom are of European and North American origin. In this

brespect Kenya is still largely the "Hhite Man's Country". If

'\Iesseling, P., "Orgwisational Behaviour and Culture: The Caseof Multinational Enterprise," Assen: 1971, p.8

bTitle of a book by Huxley, E. published in London in 1935 in twovolumes.

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it is possible to justify engaging forei.gners in t-he f.r~chnica]jobs where local skills are scarce, it is hardly easy to seewhy general management positions in the private sector shouldbe occupied by expatriates except in terms of the Engllshsaying that whoever pays the piper calls the tune.

The acute unemployment problem in Kenya has meant that co~petitionfor the f'ew paid employment opportunities that exist is stiff annthe implications of this situation on personnel ann industrialrelations have been discussed thoroughly particularly inC;:haptersII, III and IV. Such undesirable features as favonritismin recruitment and other personnel matters are manifestations ofthe pandemic unemployment in the country. The multi-racial andmulti-tribal composition of the Kenyan society just aggravatesthe problem of irregularities in personnel administration. Sotoo, the generally unsatisfactory industrial relations in thecountry are reflective of an economy w i th an over supply oflabour since employers can easily substi tute wor-kers , Underthese circumstances, the possibility of even the most minimalworkers' participation in managerial functions is remote.

Workers' participation in management is taken to mean that thosebelow the top of a production unit's hierarchy take part in themanagerial functions of the enterprise. Thus, they structuretheir work situation by determining the tasks that are to be<lone, the conditions and. terms under Hhich they are carrieo out,and the compensation offered in return for work performed. Itis argued that the property-relationships that exist in thecountry put sharp limits to sound workers' participation.

The two case stud i es in the thesis, illustrate selected person-nel and industrial relations~policy areas. These case studiesare based on research conducted in two private firms - oneengaged in the engineering trade and the other in the textiletrade. Such aspects of personnel management as recruitment,

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training, promotion and the like have been discussed. So too,un i on i sm, ',rages,manaqemen t styles, and external influences oneach of the two firms have been considered. Significant dif-ferences be tween the policies Fo lLowed by the two firms havebeen given tentative explanations. Reading through the casestudies, it vrillbe apparent that the allegations made againstsome practices such as favouritism in personnel selection andresistance by private companies to Africanise certain positionsmay be jus t i fj ed •

The theme of wor-ker-s" participation in management has· beenpursued in the final chapter and the conclusion reached is thatvlOrkers' participation is not possible i.n the absence of socialovner-shi p of the instruments of production. In the Kenyancontext, this means a complete overhaul of the present propertyrelationships.

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