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LABOUR MARKET PROFILE

2016 Kenya

LO/FTF Council, Analytical Unit

Copenhagen, Denmark

Danish Trade Council for International Development and Cooperation

Labour Market Profile 2016

Kenya 2016 Page ii

PREFACEThe LO/FTF Council presents this Labour Market Profile

as a yearly updated report that provides a

comprehensive overview of the labour market's

situation.

The report is divided in eleven thematic sections

including: trade unions, employers’ organizations,

tripartite structures, national labour legislation,

violations of trade union rights, working conditions,

situation of the workforce (with subsections such as

unemployment, sectoral employment, migration,

informal economy, child labour, gender, and youth),

education (with subsection vocational training), social

protection, general economic performance, and trade.

Additionally, Appendix presents new approved labour

market related legislations and status of ratification of

International labour Organization (ILO) Conventions.

Estimations are based on data from international

databanks (e.g. ILO’s Key Indicators of the Labour

Market (KILM) and NATLEX as well as the World Bank’s

World Development Indicators), national statistical

institutions and ministries. Other information is collected

from the International Trade Union Confederation

(ITUC) and U.S. Department of State’s Annual Country

Reports on Human Rights Practices. Facts are also

gathered from media sources (e.g. The Economist, the

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), LabourStart,

The Guardian, national news, etc.) along with trade

unions centers, employers’ organizations, NGOs, among

others.

Several indexes such as the Global Rights Index, the

Doing Business Index, the Governance Indicators, and

the Human Development Index are used as proxy

indicators of the labour market’s environment. The

indexes’ methodologies and the data quality can be

followed by the sources websites.

All sources, indicators and/or narrative inputs that are

used are available by links through footnotes.

This report was published in April 2017

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The LO/FTF Council is the Danish trade union council for

international development co-operation. It was

established, under a slightly different name, in 1987 by

the two largest Danish confederations: the Danish

Federation of Trade Unions (LO) and the Danish

Confederation of Salaried Employees and Civil

Servants (FTF). The organization activities are related

to: i) to support democratic development of the trade

union movements in Africa, Middle East, Asia and Latin

America; and ii) to contribute to democratic

development in the societies in which the unions operate.

This Labour Market Profile is prepared by the LO/FTF

Council’s Analytical Unit in Copenhagen with support

from our Sub-Region Office in Tanzania as well as the

Kenya’s Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU

(K)) in terms of data collection of trade union

membership.

This report and more than thirty other labour market

profiles from other developing countries are available

by our website:

http://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/content/landeanaly

ser

Should you have questions about the profiles you can

contact Kasper Andersen ([email protected]), Manager of

the Analytical Unit.

Cover photo: Carsten Snejbjerg.

http://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/content/landeanalyser

http://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/content/landeanalyser



Kenya 2016 Page iii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

enya is ranked as a middle-income country and

characterized as multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and

multi-religious. The country experienced a solid

economic growth during the last decade. The Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) per capita remains lower than

the sub-Saharan Africa average, though.

The economic structural transformation is not happening

in Kenya: Neither the industry and service sector are

increasing; instead the agricultural sector is growing.

Important to realize, the informal employment is on a

rise in the country.

Based on the latest poverty survey from 2005, close to

one out of two (48%) of the population lived below

US$3.1 per day in Kenya. Actually poverty was

increasing while the middle-class decreased. This

reflected a fragmentation between the labour market

and the economic growth. Data point towards that this

trend continued during the last decade. First of all,

wage employment dropping relative to total

employment. Secondly, unemployment rates remain

higher than the East Africa averages, particularly

among youth who often are poorly skilled and

experienced slow absorption into the labour market.

Thirdly, the coverage of social protection schemes is

narrow. Fourthly, a majority of the labour force (83%)

are operating in the informal economy with indecent

and vulnerable working conditions without benefitting

from the official wage regulations and collective

bargaining agreements.

There have been a few new labour related legislations

during the last three years. Notwithstanding, the

Employment Act was amended and the Employment and

Labour Relations Court (previously Industrial Court) is in

the process of decentralizing to county levels. There are

flaws on the labour related legislations in terms of

protecting trade union rights. And the government is

only enforcing the regulations to workers from the

formal sector, which is 17% of the total employment in

Kenya. Not to mention, in practice, workers are

confronting systematic violations of trade union rights.

Wages have been on a rise in nominal terms. However,

increasing cost of living has eroded the purchasing

power of wages. Employers often pay wages below

the approved minimum wage standards which has

compounded the problems that workers are facing.

Wage regulations only cover the slender wage

employment segment.

There are gender gaps on the labour market. Some

examples are that men are dominating the wage

employment; women are most active within service-

producing activities of households as well as community

and social services.

Kenya experienced a change in net migration flows

during the last two decades moving from a positive

value in the 1990s to a negative value in the 2000s,

along with the beginning of the 2010s. This suggests

that the country is now ‘exporting’ workers that are

looking for better job opportunities. Remittances

received in Kenya are still not a central part of the

GDP.

Child labour is relatively low in Kenya. This was an

impact of the free and compulsory primary education

program that triggered a high enrolments in primary

and secondary education levels. Vocational training has

been under-prioritized, though. As already indicated,

the country is struggling to improve the youth

population’s technical skills that could transition into

wage and salaried jobs in the formal sector. On the

positive side, the entrepreneurship movement is

flourishing. Regulations of starting a business have

improved in recent years, but, overall, it is still

somewhat cumbersome doing business in the country.

The trade union movement has experienced a fast

growth in membership in recent years with a relatively

high trade union density of 15% of the total labour

force. This was especially related to a high influx of

organizing workers from the informal economy. Albeit

application of Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBAs)

in Kenya is on a rise, there is an urgent need for more

awareness of basic labour rights as well as enforcement

of labour laws and regulations.

The industrial relations environment is confronting unrests

and delays in negotiation. By the same token, several

central tripartite structures demonstrate shortfalls, e.g.

the wage councils convene in few occasions and there

are disagreements on Industrial Court case procedures.

However, tripartite social dialogues intensified during

2016 which strengthened mutual relationship, e.g.

Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU (K)) and

Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) jointly sought

financial support to undertake a Social Dialogue

Project.

K



Kenya 2016 Page iv

COUNTRY MAP

Source: Google



Kenya 2016 Page v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface........................................................................................................................................................................ ii

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................... iii

Country Map .............................................................................................................................................................. iv

Trade Unions .............................................................................................................................................................. 1

Employers’ Organisations .......................................................................................................................................... 2

Central Tripartite Structures ......................................................................................................................................... 3

Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) ........................................................................................................................................... 4

National Labour Legislation ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Observations on the labour legislation ................................................................................................................................................ 6

Ratified ILO Conventions ......................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Trade Union Rights Violations .................................................................................................................................... 6

Working Conditions .................................................................................................................................................... 7

Workforce ................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Unemployment ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Sectoral Employment ..............................................................................................................................................................................10

Migration ..................................................................................................................................................................................................12

Informal Economy ....................................................................................................................................................................................13

Child Labour .............................................................................................................................................................................................13

Gender ......................................................................................................................................................................................................14

Youth ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................15

Education .................................................................................................................................................................. 15

Vocational training .................................................................................................................................................................................17

Social Protection ....................................................................................................................................................... 18

General Economic Performance ................................................................................................................................ 19

Trade ........................................................................................................................................................................ 22

Trade Agreements ..................................................................................................................................................................................22

Export Processing Zones (EPZ) ..............................................................................................................................................................23

Appendix: Additional Data ....................................................................................................................................... 25

Registered Trade Union membership in Kenya, 2016....................................................................................................................25

List of approved labour related legislations in Kenya, 2014-2016 ...........................................................................................26

Ratified ILO Conventions in Kenya, 2016 .........................................................................................................................................27

Reference .................................................................................................................................................................. 28



Kenya 2016 Page vi

Tables Table 1: Status of trade unions in Kenya, 2016 ................................................................................................................................................................ 1 Table 2: Trade Union Centres members and affiliated unions in Kenya, 2016 ........................................................................................................ 1

Table 3: Status of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) in Kenya ....................................................................................................................... 4

Table 4: Number of approved national labour, social security and human rights related legislations in Kenya ............................................. 6

Table 5: Global Rights Index, Kenya ranking, 2014-2016 ........................................................................................................................................... 6

Table 6: Wages and Earnings in Kenya .............................................................................................................................................................................. 7

Table 7: Working Conditions in Kenya ................................................................................................................................................................................ 8

Table 8: Employment-to-population ratio, 2016, Age and Sex distribution, % ........................................................................................................ 8

Table 9: Inactivity rate in Kenya, 2016, % ........................................................................................................................................................................ 9

Table 10: Unemployment and youth unemployment in Kenya and Eastern Africa, 2016 ...................................................................................... 9

Table 11: Total and wage employment in Kenya 2010-2015 ................................................................................................................................... 10

Table 12: Wage Employment by Industry in Kenya, 2010-2015 .............................................................................................................................. 10

Table 13: Wage Employment by Industry in Kenya, 2014 .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Table 14: GDP share by sector (%) and per worker per year (US$), 2014........................................................................................................... 11

Table 15: Migration Facts ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Table 16: Total and informal employment in Kenya 2010-2015 .............................................................................................................................. 13

Table 17: Working Children, proportion of all children ages 5-17 ........................................................................................................................... 14

Table 18: Highest level attained and years of schooling in the population ............................................................................................................. 15

Table 19: Vocational Training facts ................................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Table 20: Social protection facts in Kenya, 2010 .......................................................................................................................................................... 18

Table 21: Pension Benefits, Coverage and Contributions in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa, 2010, % ........................................................... 19

Table 22: Key Facts on General Economic Performance in Kenya, 2015 ................................................................................................................ 19

Table 23: Poverty and middle-class trends in Kenya, 1997-2005 ............................................................................................................................ 20

Table 24: Kenya’s Ease of Doing Business ........................................................................................................................................................................ 21

Table 25: Kenya's Governance Indicators, 2010-2015................................................................................................................................................ 21 Table 26: Trade and Foreign Direct Investment in Kenya, 2015 ................................................................................................................................ 22

Table 27: Registered Trade Union membership in Kenya, 2016 ................................................................................................................................ 25

Table 28: List of approved labour related legislations in Kenya, 2014-2016....................................................................................................... 26

Table 29: Ratified ILO Conventions in Kenya, 2016 ...................................................................................................................................................... 27

Figures Figure 1: COTU membership trend ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Figure 2: Collective Bargaining Agreement trends in Kenya, 2007-2016 ................................................................................................................. 4

Figure 3: Minimum wage trend in Kenya, 2005-2016 .................................................................................................................................................... 7

Figure 4: Labour force employment rate, 1995-2016, % .............................................................................................................................................. 9

Figure 5: Inactivity rate trend in Kenya, 1995-2016, Sexes, % ................................................................................................................................... 9

Figure 6: Unemployment trend in Kenya and the Eastern Africa (EA) ......................................................................................................................... 9

Figure 7: Employment by sector level in Kenya, 2005 .................................................................................................................................................. 11

Figure 8: Sector Share in Kenya, % of GDP, 1995-2015 ............................................................................................................................................ 12

Figure 9: Labour productivity trend, 2007-2016 ........................................................................................................................................................... 12

Figure 10: Ratio of net migration to total population in Kenya and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 1998-2012 .......................................... 12 Figure 11: Women in management and ownership in Kenya, 2013 .......................................................................................................................... 15

Figure 12: Enrolment in Primary Secondary and Tertiary schools ............................................................................................................................... 16

Figure 13: Pupils in vocational training to all pupils in secondary education, 2000-2009, % ............................................................................ 17

Figure 14: Total health-care expenditure not financed by private household's out-of-pocket payments ........................................................ 19

Figure 15: GDP growth per capita, 2006-2015, Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa, Annual % ............................................................................ 19

Figure 16: GDP per capita in Purchasing Power Parity (US$) and Gini Index, 2005-2015 ............................................................................... 20

Figure 17: Inflation in consumer prices trend .................................................................................................................................................................... 21

Figure 18: Gross Fixed Capital Formation trend ............................................................................................................................................................ 21

Figure 19: Trade and Foreign Direct Investment trends ................................................................................................................................................ 22

Figure 20: Kenya's main export markets, 2015 .............................................................................................................................................................. 22

Figure 21: Kenya’s main products share of exports, 2014 .......................................................................................................................................... 22 Figure 22: Kenya’s performance on EPZ key indicators, 2010-2014 ....................................................................................................................... 24

Figure 23: Average monthly minimum wage and EPZ wage in Kenya, 2010-2014, Schillings........................................................................... 24



Kenya 2016 Page 1

TRADE UNIONS

The trade union movement in Kenya organizes 2.7

million workers with an estimated trade union density of

15% of the total labour force. This is high in comparison

with the neighbouring East African countries with

organizing rates as low as 2-3%. Based on an

assessment, around one out of four of the employed

workers are a member of a trade union. And close to

one out of two members is a woman (Table 1).

Table 1: Status of trade unions in Kenya, 2016

Number of trade unions 58

Dues 2 % *

Members of trade unions 2,719,848

Trade union members share of labour force 15 % **

Trade union members share of employed workers

26 % ***

Women member share of trade unions on average

49 %

Note: The number of trade union members should be treated with caution because many unions do not regularly update their membership record. * The estimation of dues is based on an average of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) dues as percent of salaries. ** Estimations include members from affiliated organized workers from the informal economy. *** Estimations are excluding affiliated organized workers from the

informal economy.

Source: COTU; LO/FTF Council.

The trade unions in Kenya are sector-based with a few

general unions that cover several industries such as the

Kenya Union of Commercial, Food and Allied Workers

that represents workers in varied sectors like banking,

food, retail, and finance. Civil servants are also active

members of worker organizations and exercise the

freedom of association rights.

In recent years, the labour market in Kenya has been

affected by an increasing outsourcing, casualization

and in-formalization. Although the Kenya labour market

has one of the most institutionalised industrial relations

in Africa, massive lay-offs and rising disputes triggered

off by non-compliance of collective agreements have in

recent years affected the labour market negatively. In

practice, this has challenged the trade unions’ ability to

organize and bargain collectively for better working

conditions. Trade unions have also suffered from

government interference in trade union activities. As an

example, tensions arose in 2014 between COTU, TUC-

Ke and the Government due to disagreements about

which organization was the most representative in

Kenya to enjoy the right to represent workers in a

number of tri-partite forums by law. Since then,

however, relations between COTU (K) and the Kenya

National Union of Teachers (KNUT) improved during

2015/2016 where COTU assisted KNUT in handling

the dispute with the public employer. While the national

teacher strike and collective negotiations were

eventually resolved in 2016, doctors and nurses

continued their strikes into 2017 (see also the section:

Trade Union Rights Violations).

The trade union movement has struggled with

demarcation lines. Data suggests that the Trade Union

Congress of Kenya (TUC-Ke) went through a drop of

23% in membership in the period from 2012 to 2016.

In contrast, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions

(COTU (K)) experienced a high growth of 101% in the

membership due to a high influx of members from the

informal economy in recent years (Table 2 & Figure 1).

Table 2: Trade Union Centres members and affiliated unions in Kenya, 2016

Total

Members

Growth in membership, 2012-2016

Women Members,

%

COTU (K) 2,522,717 101 % 48 % TUC-Ke 189,226 -29 % * 63 % Independent 7,905 N/a 20 %

Total 2,719,848 N/a 49 % * Data from TUC-Ke growth in membership cover only KNUT and KUSU.


Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU (K))

COTU (K) is the largest trade union federation in Kenya

and it is considered as one of the strongest in Africa.

The organization is a well-established political actor on

general labour market issues. The role of COTU has

concentrated on negotiating improvement in salaries,

workplace safety, fringe benefits and generally better

terms and conditions of employment for the workers it

represents in the formal sector.

The organization represents 44 trade unions with a

registered 2.5 million members in 2016; one out of two

(48%) were women and around 58% are young

members.1 COTU is affiliated to the International Trade

Union Confederation (ITUC), the Organization of

African Trade Union Unity (OATUU), the Trade Union

Federation of Eastern Africa (TUFEA) and the East

African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC).

The organization’s trade unions range from the largest

Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union

(KPAWU) of 750,000 members to the small Seafarers

Working Union of 277 members. COTU (K) members

grew from 3% of the labour force in 2005 to a paek

of 13% in 2016. The high increase in membership is

partly caused by an improved collaboration with

organized workers from the informal economy since



Kenya 2016 Page 2

2014 (Figure 1). The Doctors Union and Private

Universities Union were affiliated to COTU in 2016,

while the Dock Workers Union, who had left the

federation, was re-affiliated. Similarly, nine

independent informal economy unions/associations

affiliated to COTU (K) (see also Appendix Table 27).

COTU (K) represents affiliated unions and informal

economy associations in tri/bi-partite bodies such as the

National Social Security Fund (NSSF), the National

Labour Board, and the Wage Councils. During 2016,

COTU (K) sensitised its membership on the ILO

Recommendation 204 on the transition from the informal

to the formal economy.

Figure 1: COTU membership trend

Source: COTU (K) and LO/FTF Council

COTU (K) has improved its economic and organizational

sustainability. In addition to the increased numbers of

union members, approx. 12% of affiliated unions now

co-finance their own training and education programs

partly as a result of workers education and regional

training-of-trainers network.

During the national congress of COTU in 2016, three

women General Secretaries were elected together with

two women National Treasurers and over 500

representatives at branch and shop floor levels. In

addition, COTU (K) amended its constitution to provide

positions for women and youth committee chairpersons

into the Board. The COTU (K) congress also adopted its

first gender policy.

Trade Union Congress of Kenya (TUC-Ke)

The Federation of Public Service Trade Unions of Kenya

(PUSETU-K) was launched in November 2012 and re-

launched as the Trade Union Congress of Kenya (TUC-

Ke) in 2014. Six trade unions are affiliated with TUC-

Ke in 2017 (March) and represents a total of 189,000

members (Table 27). In the beginning the organization

was dominated by members from the public sector,

later opened up for private sector unions.

The largest affiliated union is KNUT with 160,000

members, but since 2014 it has lost at least 25,000

members as a result of a validation process initiated by

the Teachers Service Commission and poor recruitment

(Table 2 and see also Appendix Table 27).

During 2016, KNUT and the Kenya Union of Post

Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) were at

loggerheads with the Teachers Service Commission

(TSC) due to withheld union dues, adversarial collective

negotiations. At the end of 2016, however, a collective

agreement was concluded with improved salary

packages to public teachers.

EMPLOYERS’ ORGANISATIONS

Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE)2

FKE was established in 1959. As Kenya’s leading

employers’ organization, its overall objectives are to

maintain good industrial relations, promote sound

management practices and fair employment conditions.

Maintaining industrial relations are the core function of

FKE. It also provides business development assistance to

members (advocacy, industrial relations, employment

laws and related value-add services through

management, consultancy and training). The employers’

organizations have increased their attention to

employers from the informal economy.3 As an example,

FKE has been involved in providing institutional services

to informal economy businesses.

FKE headquarters are in Nairobi, while its three

branches are located in the Coast, the Rift Valley and

the Western Regions. It is independent of both

government and political parties.

Membership is open to all organizations in the public

and private sectors except the civil service and the

disciplined forces. Its membership comprises of at least

4,000 Kenyan businesses both direct and indirectly

through 15 associations that cuts across all sectors of the

economy. The members constitute both small and large

employers. In comparison, Kenya has an estimated

35,000 large or medium sized enterprises, constituting

2% of Kenya’s 1.7 million enterprises. The organization

is registered on United Nation’s Global Compact.

In practice, FKE is the bi-partite social partner to COTU.

It represents employers in the most central bi/tripartite

organs, and deals and provides hearing inputs on

3%

7%

9% 9% 9%

13%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

0

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

3000000

2005 2007 2009 2012 2014 2016

Ratio of trade union members to labour force (%)



Kenya 2016 Page 3

labour policies and legislation. Among others, FKE is

incorporated in the Government's Employment Policy

and correspondent strategies alongside COTU.4 Most

importantly, however, FKE leads negotiations of

collective bargaining agreements on behalf of its

member enterprises at company, industrial or sectoral

level.

FKE has also been involved in programs such as

capacity building, developing small scale enterprise,

informal economy, child labour prevention, developing

micro finance, tackling youth unemployment, HIV/AIDS

at the workplace and expanding social protection.

FKE is concerned about Kenya’s competitiveness in

doing business and especially the low job creation in

the formal sector, the high growing youth population

and wage increases. Similarly, concerns have been

raised about the lacking infrastructure repair as well as

the negative value in the net migration i.e. ‘exporting’

jobs (see also the sub-section: Migration).

CENTRAL TRIPARTITE STRUCTURES5

National Labour Board

The tripartite National Labour Board advises the

Minister of Labour on labour legislation and labour

matters. The Minister of Labour consults the board, when

various sensitive changes to the labour laws are made.

Wages Councils

A total of 17 Wages Councils - the General Wages

Council, the Agricultural Wages Council and other

sectoral councils - consist of three representatives from

each of the tripartite parties plus three independent

members. The Councils monitor the enforcement of

minimum standards requirements and advices the

Minister of Labour on matters of minimum wages and

conditions of employment in formal and informal

economy.

Wage councils and several tripartite committees have

only convened on a few occasions. Several tripartite

bodies are currently not active and the Ministry of

Labour, the labour administration, the employment and

labour relations court and the labour inspection have

been criticised by social partners for reacting slowly on

labour issues and handling of day-to-day business.

By law informal economy workers are allowed to

establish associations as well as unions to negotiate

wages and conditions in line with the government’s

minimum wage guidelines. This also includes advocating

for better working conditions and representation in the

Employment and Labour Relations Court.

Productivity Centre of Kenya

The Productivity Centre of Kenya is a tripartite

institution that works to improve productivity,

sustainable growth and encourage better working

relationship between labour and enterprises. It gives

wage guidelines for various sectors based on

productivity, inflation and cost of living indices.

In August 2016, Kenya initiated to set up a National

Productivity Council in Nairobi to monitor the

implementation of programs aimed at improving labour

issues and standardization. The change follows minor

amendments to the Industrial Court Act of 2011 to align

it to an article of the Constitution.

Employment and labour relations court (former

Industrial Court)

The Employment and Labour Relations Court settles

employment and industrial relations disputes and

secures good labour relations in Kenya. Apart from

aligning the Industrial Court to the Kenyan constitution

from 2010 and re-naming it to the Employment and

Labour Relations Court, it was also decentralised to 7

out of 47 counties so far. Twelve (12) judges have been

appointed. COTU (K) are engaged in building the

capacity of the Employment and Labour Relations Court

by training paralegals for presentation of cases before

the court and familiarizing the courts functions to trade

unions as well as employers.

The function of the court has been challenged by

disagreements as to whether procedures for the court

cases should be aligned with procedures in ordinary

courts as well as if only employers and trade unions

have standing before the court.

The government continues to strengthening the labour

dispute system. Critics argue that decisions of the

employment and labour relations court are not enforced

consistently. Many employers do not comply with the

court’s reinstatement orders, while some workers accept

payment in lieu of reinstatement. According to sources,

the enforcement mechanisms of the Employment and

Labour Relations Court remain weak and its case

backlog raises concerns about its efficacy. With

reference to the latest data available, 3,651 cases

were filed with the Industrial Court during 2015 - up

from 3,540 in 2014. A total of 1,086 awards and

rulings were announced in 2015.6



Kenya 2016 Page 4

The government established the courts to provide for

alternative dispute resolution structures to relieve

backlog of labour disputes cases at the Employment

and Labour Relations Court, but some cases dated back

from 2007. Conciliation is not compulsory in individual

employment matters.

National Economic and Social Council (NESC) NESC was established in 2004 as an advisory body to

the government on policies to fast track the socio-

economic transformation of the country. The institution

has contributed indirectly to social dialogue in the

preparation of strategies and policies. This supported a

more favourable environment for engagements

between employees, employers, government (executive,

legislature and judiciary) and new entrants in the social

dialogue space such as NGOs and think tanks.

Other important bi/tripartite organs

Kenyan Electricity Board

National Industrial Training Council

National AIDS Control Council and Global Fund on

AIDS

National Social Security Fund

National Health Insurance Fund

National Advisory committee on Occupational Health and Safety

National Tripartite Consultative Committee

Kenyan anti-corruption Board

Teacher Service Commission

Educational Task force

Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs)

Kenya’s Constitution recognizes the right of every trade

union to bargain collectively. However, it is not clear

whether this right can be enjoyed by all workers, e.g.

members of the Prison Department, the National Youth

Service, teachers under the Teachers' Service Commission,

and workers from the public sector (see also the section:

National Labour Legislation).7

A total 230 Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs)

were registered with 37 new agreements negotiated in

2016 with a 4% increment from 2015. 12% of total

employees are covered by agreements. It’s important

to note that the collective agreement between the

teachers' union KNUT and TSC were signed in 2016

after 48 years of negotiations.

Table 3: Status of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) in Kenya

Number of CBAs (2016) 230 *

Unionisable employees covered 270,431 **

Share of employees covered by CBAs 12 % **

* Number of CBAs from 2016 is based on 226 CBAs from COTU (K)

and 4 CBAs from TUC (Ke).

** The number covers only COTU (K).


Based on research of comparative collective bargaining

agreements from development countries from 2015,

analysed 56 CBAs in Kenya out of which 98% were

covering the private sector and 11% were signed by

one or more employers’ associations. The agreements

contain clauses on wages. It does not include wage

amounts, but where the wage setting takes place, i.e. it

covered 97% of the agreements specify individual

contracts as the level where wages are to be

determined in Kenya. Wages were rarely set on the

industry level. In addition, 82% of 56 CBAs contained

indexation clauses, increasing basic pay on a

permanent basis. Only 4% of the Kenyan agreements

had pay scales.8

COTU (K) and its affiliated unions improved their

capacity to enter social dialogue with employers in the

formal sector. The coverage of CBA skyrocketed from

3.5% to 17% in 2013 and dropped slightly down on

12% in 2016. In contrast, the number of approved

CBAs fell during the last decade from 317 in 2007 to

226 in 2016. This indicates that the number of CBAs

have a relatively higher coverage today than during

the 2000’s (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Collective Bargaining Agreement trends in Kenya, 2007-2016

Source: Trade Union Approaches to Formalizing the Informal Economy

in Kenya, June 2015; COTU and LO/FTF Council research

In 2016, an increasing number of collective bargaining

were controversial and delayed, and indicated

3,2%

4,3% 4,3% 5,2%

4,6%

3,5%

17%

12%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2016CBAs coverage of waged workers (%)

Number of CBAs



Kenya 2016 Page 5

industrial unrest like for instance grievances about

health professionals’ payments, lack of promotions etc.

by county governments (as per constitution). This

triggered off the longest nationwide doctor and health-

care strike due to disputes over pay and working

conditions and lack of application of the 2013

collective agreement between health professionals and

the Kenyan government (see also the section: Trade

Union Rights Violations). This strike was eventually

called off in 2017. Similarly, teachers’ and university

strikes illustrated poor industrial relations between

unions and the Ministry of Education and inefficient

dispute resolution mechanisms in Kenya.

NATIONAL LABOUR LEGISLATION

Constitution9

The Constitution of 2010 enshrines several labour rights

including the freedom of association, independence of

social partners, a fair remuneration, reasonable

working conditions and the right to strike. Tenets of the

Decent Work Agenda are embedded in Chapter Four,

also known as the Bill of Rights.

The Employment Act10

The Employment Act of 2007 regulates various aspects

of employment, including rights at work, working hours,

sick and maternity leave, discrimination, sexual

harassment, forced and child labour, protection of

wages, termination of employment and dispute

settlement procedures.

The Act provides for the right of workers, to form and

join unions of their choice. It includes those in export

processing zones (EPZs). Any seven or more workers in

an enterprise have the right to form a union by

registering with the trade union registrar. The law also

covers the right of collective bargaining to every trade

union, employer’s organization, and employer.11

During 2016, tripartite partners produced a simplified

version of the five sets of Kenya labour laws of 2007

targeting the informal economy workers and created a

mobile application of the same in order to improve

accessibility.

The Labour Institutions Act12

Labour Institutions Act of 2007 defines rights to

freedom of association, establishment of labour and

employer organisations, member dues, and recognition

of trade unions and CBAs. The Act also establishes and

regulates the National Labour Board, the Industrial

Court, Committee of Inquiry, Labour Administration and

Inspection, Wage Councils and Employment Agencies.

The Labour Relations Act13

The Labour Relations Act of 2007 regulates trade

unions and employers’ organizations, collective

bargaining, strikes and lockouts, trade dispute

resolution and also recognizes the freedom of

association.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act14

Occupational Health and Safety Act of 2007 deals

with safety, health and welfare of persons employed at

workplaces. It defines the duties of social partners and

sets out occupational, health and safety standards and

codes of practices at any given workplace.

The Domestic Workers’ Act

The Domestic Workers’ Act of 2011 improve wages

and working conditions for Kenya’s domestic workforce,

thereby affording domestic workers greater job

security and wages to support their families.

The National Social Security Fund Act15

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Act of 2013

enhances workers’ social protection with two newly-

established funds: a pension fund and a new provident

fund. All employers with one or more employees are

obliged to register with the new pension fund.

Membership in the pension fund is mandatory for all

employed persons between the ages of 18 and 60.

Previous fixed sum contributions has been changed and

increased to a 6% + 6% contribution from employer

and employee. Members of the old provident fund will

be automatically enrolled in the pension fund.

Membership in the new provident fund is now voluntary

for employees covered by the pension fund.

The implementation of NSSF Act 2013 has been heavily

disputed by Government on one side and COTU and

FKE on the other side. Government decided to

implement the law at once, not allowing a transition

period of five years as otherwise agreed affecting the

tri-partite relations negatively. A legal row over the

substantial increase in contributions to workers’ pensions

was negotiated to a roadmap in September 2016 to

withdraw court cases barring the implementation of a a

new NSSF Act.

Other labour legislations

Several other labour related legislations regulate and

set standards and restrictions for the labour market.16

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Kenya 2016 Page 6

social security and human rights legislations. Ten new

legal pieces were approved in the period from 2014 to

2016 (Table 4 & Appendix Table 28):

Table 4: Number of approved national labour, social security and human rights related legislations in Kenya

2014 2015 2016

Number of new legislations 5 3 2

Source: ILO, NATLEX, Kenya

Observations on the labour legislation

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

observations of the labour legislation protection of

trade union rights were among others:17

The Registrar of Trade Unions may refuse to

register a union if another union already exists

which is sufficiently representative of the whole or

of a substantial proportion of the workers the new

union seeks to represent.

The law imposes strict conditions and limitations on

the use and management of trade unions’ funds.

The Registrar of Trade Unions also has extensive

powers to audit these funds.

A union shall be recognized as a bargaining agent

if it represents a simple majority of those

employees eligible to become union members. This

provision extends to public sector employers.

While the new Constitution recognizes the right of

every trade union to bargain collectively, it is not

clear whether this right can be enjoyed by

members of the Prison Department, the National

Youth Service, by teachers under the Teachers’

Service Commission, and by workers in the public

sector.

If the parties cannot reach an agreement, they must

report the labour dispute to the Minister of Labour

who shall appoint a conciliator within 21 days. The

conciliator shall attempt to resolve the dispute

within 30 days, and only after that can a lawful

strike be called. A party can also refer the dispute

to the Industrial Court if conciliation fails, but not

where a union may call a protected strike, i.e. a

strike that concerns employment matters or the

recognition of a trade union.

Other sources have registered that some employers

unfairly dismissed workers for their union affiliation.

Equally important, the government has been criticized

for not effectively applying labour law regulations.18 A

point of concern is the need to extend the application

of labour legislation and regulations into the informal

economy where the majority (88%) of the labour force

is working.

Ratified ILO Conventions

With reference to Kenya’s ratification of international

labour standards, a total 50 of International Labour

Organization's (ILO) Conventions are ratified (see also

Appendix Table 29):19

Fundamental Conventions: 7 of 8.

Governance Conventions (Priority): 3 of 4

Technical Conventions: 40 of 177.

Out of 50 Conventions ratified by Kenya, of which

41 are in force, 9 Convention have been

denounced; none has been ratified in the past 12

months.

The ILO Convention 87 concerning Freedom of

Association and the Protection of the Right to Organize

has not been ratified. The latest ratified Convention

was the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006) from

July 2014.

TRADE UNION RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Kenya was ranked 4 out of 5 of ITUC’s Global Rights

Index since 2015 (Table 5) and classified with

‘systematic violations of rights’. This is interpreted as

workers in countries with the rating 4 have reported the

government and/or companies are engaged in serious

efforts to crush the collective voice of workers putting

fundamental rights under threat.20

Table 5: Global Rights Index, Kenya ranking, 2014-2016

2014 2015 2016

Ranking on the Global Rights

Index 4 4 4

Note: Five clusters in total with ratings from 1 to 5. A country is

assigned the rating 5+ by default, if the rule of law has completely

broken down.

Source: ITUC, Global Rights Index

ITUC registered 13 cases on the systematic violations of

rights’ in 2015 none in 2016.21 These cases were

related to striking health professionals, nurses and

doctor workers who were sacked; denied teacher-

negotiated rights and a national strike, strikers

threatened with dismissals; striking nurses attacked;

members of parliament calling for union leaders to be

arrested for organizing teachers strike; death threats

against health workers’ leaders; two informal ‘sector’

union officials wrongfully arrested and detained; anti-

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Kenya 2016 Page 7

union action at Agility Logistics; 200 security guards

sacked for joining union; teachers’ leaders faces police

summons over strike; union members face pay

discrimination at Telkom Kenya; and union officials

sacked by flowers flower farm.

Other sources noted how employers increasingly avoid

compliance with reinstatement orders by Employment

and Labour Relations Court, and resist efforts to

establish unions. In addition, regulations allow

employers in some industries to dismiss workers

regardless of the provisions of their collective

bargaining agreements. There were also registered

violations with reference to debt bondage, trafficking

of workers, and even family members compelled to

work as domestic servants.22

WORKING CONDITIONS

Kenya has one of the highest minimum wages in the East

African region. Recent government increase minimum

wages were 12% in nominal terms in May 2015. The

lowest minimum wage (general labourer) was set at

10,955 shillings (US$111) per month with the highest

(cashier driver and salesmen-driver) at 24,720 shillings

(US$251). The minimum wage in the agricultural sector

is significantly lower with an estimated 6,702 shillings

(US$68) on average in 2015. The minimum wages were

not raised in 2016.

Overall the minimum wage experienced a growth on

149% in real terms from 2005 to 2016. However, in

many cases the increasing cost of living and inflation of

10% in 2017 often outpaced the wage growth.

Another point often overlooked is that the minimum

wage is applied in the formal sector not in the informal

economy where the large majority of the labour force

works (see also the sub-section: Informal economy). In

practice, only three out of ten informal workers are

paid above the minimum wage compared to nine out of

ten formal workers.

Kenya also had a relatively high nominal average

wage of 50,355 shillings (US$512) per month in 2015.

This nominal average wage growth was estimated at

105% in the period from 2005 to 2015 (see more in

Table 6). An unequal distribution of income in the

country is indicated by a higher nominal average

wages than the minimum wages.

Table 6: Wages and Earnings in Kenya Monthly average and legal minimum wages Shilling

Current US$

Current

Nominal average wages (2015) 50,355 512

Lowest minimum wage (2015-2016) 10,955 111

Highest minimum wage (2015-2016) 24,720 251

Medium agricultural minimum wage (2015-2016)

6,702 73

Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker (2016)

1.2 %

Real wage growth (%) (2015) 2.1 %

Growth of nominal average wage (2005-2015)

105 %

Growth of real minimum wage (2005-2016) 149 %

Source: ILO, Global Wage Report 2016/17; Kenya Gazette

Supplement No.9l, 2015; Mywage.org/Kenya; World Bank, Doing

Business, Kennya 2016

The minimum wage has been on a steady increase since

2008. According to estimations, there has been a

significant gap between the nominal vs. real minimum

wage due to consumer price inflation at 8.1% on

average in the period from 2005 to 2016 (Figure 3

and Figure 17).

Figure 3: Minimum wage trend in Kenya, 2005-2016 Shillings and growth in %

Source: ILO, Global Wage Report 2016/17;

Working conditions are monitored by 95 labour

inspectors employed by the Ministry of Labour, Social

Security, and Services (MLSSS). It equals one inspector

per 188,921 workers of the total workforce and

23,849 of wage and salaried employment. In contrast,

the ILO recommends one inspector per 40,000 workers

in less developed countries.23 According to sources,

14%

2%

-11%

24%

18%

1%

19%

23%

-1%

12%

0%

-15%

-10%

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

20000

Real minimum wage growth (%)

Minimum wage

Real minimum wage

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Kenya 2016 Page 8

insufficient resource made a number of labour

inspection positions vacant which turned out to several

county labour offices had only one or no labour

inspector. By the same token, low salaries and the lack

of vehicles, fuel, and other resources made it very

difficult for labour inspectors to do their work

effectively and left them vulnerable to bribes and other

forms of corruption.24

With over 1.4 mio Kenyans living with HIV/AIDS, Kenya

has the 4th largest HIV epidemic globally. It constitutes

a serious public health problem with negative

repercussions in the labour market.25 In workplaces,

productivity and product quality have suffered because

of among others ignorance of the HIV pandemic, poor

public health and loss of lives, stigma, unfair

discrimination and dismissals, disclosure of status,

breach of confidentiality and lack of HIV/AIDS

prevention programs.

To mitigate the pandemic, some employers and trade

unions use the workplace as a joint platform for

sensitization, education, counseling, care and treatment

etc. of the workforce, but the labour market in Kenya is

today characterized by too few workplace HIV and

AIDS policies and CBAs having been implemented that

have integrated salient HIV/AIDS provisions.26 The HIV

and AIDS Tribunal adjudicate and redress cases

involving violations of labour and civil rights to protect

and promote rights of HIV/AIDS infected and affected

people.

Law puts the normal workweek to 52 hours, which is

relatively high in Africa. Agricultural workers are

excluded from the limitations. An employee in the non-

agricultural sector has the right to one rest day per

week and 21 days of combined annual and sick leave.

The law also requires that total hours worked (regular

time plus overtime) in any two-week period do not

exceed 120 hours (144 hours for night workers). The

law also provides premium pay for overtime (see more

on Table 7).

Table 7: Working Conditions in Kenya

Normal Weekly Hour Limit 52 hours

Overtime Limit

Maximum limit of 116

hours (incl. overtime) per

2 week period

Max. Weekly Hours Limit 58 hours

Min. Mandatory Overtime

premium/time off in Lieu of

Overtime Wages

50% increase; no universal

national entitlement to compensatory time off

Min. Annual Leave 18 hours

Duration of Maternity Leave

Benefits 3 months

Amount of Maternity Leave

Benefits 100 %

Source of Maternity Leave

Benefits Employer

Source: ILO, Working Conditions Laws Report 2012

WORKFORCE

Kenya’s total population was estimated at 46.8 million

out of which 18.5 million were workers in 2016. Each

year around 841,600 persons enter the job market of

which 107,800 were wage employment and 20,200

were self-employment or unpaid family employment in

the modern sector while 713,600 were in the informal

sector.

The employment-to-population rate was estimated at

61% in 2016 with gender gaps, e.g. 10% percentile

ranking between men (66%) and women (56%). The

youth employment-to-population ratio of 32% is

particularly low in Kenya in comparison with the sub-

Saharan Africa average at 59%. One of the reasons

for this low youth employment rate is related to the

relatively high enrolment in primary and secondary

education as well as high youth unemployment.

Actually, data show that the country has significantly

lower employment-to-population ratios on all levels in

comparison with the abovementioned region averages

(see more on Table 8).

Table 8: Employment-to-population ratio, 2016, Age and Sex distribution, %

Sex Age Kenya Eastern Africa

Men & women

Total 15+ 61 % 74 %

Youth 15-24 32 % 59 %

Adult 25+ 75 % 82 %

Men

Total 15+ 67 % 79 %

Youth 15-24 35 % 63 %

Adult 25+ 82 % 88 %

Women

Total 15+ 56 % 69 %

Youth 15-24 29 % 56 %

Adult 25+ 69 % 76 %

Sources: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition.

Based on estimations, during the last decade the

country’s total employment rate has been on a flat

growth and stayed 12 percentiles ranking lower than

the Eastern Africa average. The youth employment rate

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Kenya 2016 Page 9

also stayed flat during the same period with 28

percentiles lower than the region youth employment

rate average (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Labour force employment rate, 1995-2016, %


Inactivity

One out of three (33%) of the working-age population

(WAP) and almost two out of three (61%) of the youth

population (15-24 years old) are inactive on the labour

market (Table 9).

Table 9: Inactivity rate in Kenya, 2016, %

Total Men Women

Inactivity rate 33 % 28 % 38 %

Inactivity rate, youth 61 % 57 % 64 %

Note: Inactivity is measured as not engaged actively in the labour

market, either by working or looking for work.


The inactivity rate trends were estimated with a rise

during the 1990s and beginning of the 2000s; but

stayed on a flat growth after 2005 and stayed at

around 33% of the total labour force and 61% of the

youth (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Inactivity rate trend in Kenya, 1995-2016, Sexes, %


Unemployment

The most recent data estimations of total unemployment

and youth unemployment in Kenya stand at 9.2% and

18% in 2016, respectively. There is an unemployment

gender gap in terms of the total unemployment while it

is not present among youth unemployment (Table 10).

Unemployment occurs mostly in the urban areas while

underemployment occurs predominantly in rural areas.

All Kenya’s unemployment rates are higher than the

Eastern Africa averages. With this in mind, around 80%

of unemployed Kenyans are below 35 years old.

Table 10: Unemployment and youth unemployment in Kenya and Eastern Africa, 2016

Kenya Eastern

Africa

Unemployment

Total 9.2 % 6.8 %

Men 7.9 % 5.3 %

Women 11 % 8.2 %

Youth

Unemployment

(15-24 years old)

Total 18 % 11 %

Men 17 % 10 %

Women 18 % 12 %

Sources: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition

Both the total and youth unemployment trends show

steady rates during the last decade at around 9% and

18% in average, respectively (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Unemployment trend in Kenya and the Eastern Africa (EA) 2007-2016, Total and Youth, %


The high youth unemployment rate is related to long-

term population changes, e.g. young Kenyans are

moving from rural to urban areas in large numbers.

Albeit there has been some increase in urban formal job

creation, it has been insufficient to cover the demand. It

is important to realize that the urban areas have not

only been unable to generate sufficient jobs in the

formal sector, but also many cannot readily find an

0

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40

50

60

70

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90

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Kenya - Total Kenya - YouthEA - Total EA - Youth

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Total Youth

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Kenya 2016 Page 10

adequate occupation in the informal economy. Data

shows that the proportion of workers with a formal job

decreased from about 13% in the early 1970s to 9%

in 2010.27

The low job creation in Kenya keeps many workers in

poverty. As demonstrated, the unemployment rates are

consistently higher for young people belonging to

households in the bottom 40% of income distribution.28

Also education level is central in terms of

unemployment, e.g. the youth high unemployment rate is

related to lower education levels. Only 1.5% of the

unemployed youth have formal education beyond the

secondary school level.

Kenya has with no legislative provision for

unemployment insurance and benefits. On the other

hand, the new Youth Employment and Opportunities

Project of US$150 million was launched in May 2016

directed towards persons aged between 18 and 29

years, who are without jobs and have experienced

extended spells of unemployment, or are currently

working in vulnerable jobs.29 The Ministries of Education

and Labour are currently drafting a skills development

policy. Also, there are initiatives to tackle Kenya’s high

youth unemployment through a better collaboration

between the private sector, academia and government

to develop innovative business models, industry-relevant

curricula and enabling national policies.30

Sectoral Employment

According to the Economic Survey 2016 approximately

2.5 million workers in Kenya are wage employees

which equal 16% of the total employment of 15.2

million workers in 2015. This data excludes small-scale

agriculture and pastoral activities; thus, it diverges from

the previously mentioned total labour force.

The total wage employees have increased with 23% in

the period from 2010 to 2015. In the same period the

total employment grew by 32%. It is interesting to

observe that the ratio of wage employment to the total

employment dropped by 2.0% and reached 16% of

the total employment (Table 11).

Table 11: Total and wage employment in Kenya 2010-2015

2010 2014 Change %

Wage employment 2,016,200 2,478,000 23%

Total employment 11,457,100 15,160,899 32%

Ratio of wage employment to total employment

18% 16% -2.0%

Sources: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Economic Survey 2015

The wage employment was growing more in the private

sector of 26% than the public sector of 16% in the

period from 2010 to 2015; and the former segment

constituted 68% of the total wage employment and the

latter of 32% in 2015 (Table 12).

Table 12: Wage Employment by Industry in Kenya, 2010-2015

2010 2015

Change %

Private sector 1,396,400 1,759,600 26 %

Public sector 619,800 718,400 16 %

Total wage employment 2,016,200 2,478,200 23 %


In terms of the total wage employment by industry in

Kenya, almost two out of three (63%) are men who

dominate most sectors, except in the ‘other services’

sector. The community, social and personal services

sector has the highest employment share of 37% of the

total employment, which covers 874,000 workers with a

slight men dominance of 53% of the sector employment.

The second most dominating sector employment is the

agriculture sector (14%) followed by manufacturing

(12%) and trade and hotel/restaurant sector of 12%

(see more sector employment on Table 13).

Table 13: Wage Employment by Industry in Kenya, 2014

Sector Total sector

employment

Sector

employment

share, %

Ratio of men in

sector

employment, %

Agriculture 333,300 14% 66%

Mining & quarrying 12,800 0,5% 84%

Manufacturing 287,400 12% 82%

Electricity, gas &

water 25,700 1,1% 70%

Construction 143,700 6,1% 81%

Trade, restaurants &

hotels 293,300 12% 73%

Transport, storage &

communication 178,800 7,5% 67%

Finance, real estate

& business services 71,400 3,0% 61%

Community, social

and personal

services *

873,400 37% 53%

Other sources ** 150,400 6,3% 43%

Total 2,370,200 100% 63%

* This sector include: Professional, scientific and technical activities;

Administrative and support service activities; Public administration and

defence; compulsory social security; Education; and Human health and

social work activities.

** Other sources include: Arts, entertainment and recreation; Other

service activities; activities of households as employers; undifferentiated

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Kenya 2016 Page 11

goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use; and

Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies.


Since the wage employment covers only 16% of the

total employment in Kenya, the real sector employment

share is underestimated. Based on the limitations of

data availability, statistics of employment by

aggregate sector estimations are from 2005. Still they

can be applied as a proxy indicator of the total

employment by sector. They showed a total 12.6 million

workers in employment and 51% were men. Around

61% of the total employment work in the agricultural

sector (54% were women), 14% in the community, social

and in personal services (45% were women) and 14%

in trade and hotel/restaurant sector (54% were

women), among others (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Employment by sector level in Kenya, 2005


The agricultural sector contributes with 30% of Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) and the GDP share by sector

per worker is estimated at US$2,391 per year which is

the lowest sectoral share in Kenya. Since this sector is

operating in the rural areas and informal activities and

workers lack education and access to capital explains

why the labour productivity is relatively low (see also

Figure 9). The trade and hotel/restaurant sector has

also a relatively low share of 10% of GDP contributing

with 14% of the total employment which equal

US$3,542 per workers per year. This relatively low

productivity per worker is also related informality in the

sector.

In contrast, estimations illustrates that the very narrow

manufacturing sector with 3.6% of the total employment

share covers 11% of GDP by sector in 2014 which

equals US$15,047 per worker per year. Likewise the

financial sector has a share of 16% of GDP with only

1.1% of the total employment in Kenya and a GDP

share by workers of US$71,449 per worker per year

(see more on Table 14). The very high GDP share by

sector per worker is often related to higher access to

capital in the industry and service sector.

Table 14: GDP share by sector (%) and per worker per year (US$), 2014

Sector GDP share

by sector, %

GDP share by

sector per

worker, US$ *

Agriculture 30 % 2,391

Mining & quarrying 0,9 % 7,653

Manufacturing 11 % 15,047

Electricity, gas & water 2,0 % 55,761

Construction 5,4 % 11,011

Trade, restaurants &

hotels 10 % 3,542

Transport, storage &

communication 11 % 17,012

Finance, real estate &

business services 16 % 71,449

Community, social and

personal services 15 % 5,118

Total / average 100 % 4,867

* Employment by sector level in Kenya in 2005.

Note: GDP share by sector per worker is calculated by the total GDP

(current US$) divided by GDP share per sector origin which then is

divided in number of workers per sector from 2005.

Source: Estimations based on data from ILO, Key Indicators of the

Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition and AfDB, OECD & UNDP, African

Economic Outlook, Kenya 2016

Kenya has experienced a quite limited structural

economic transformation during the last two decades.

First of all, the agricultural sector share of GDP remains

high at 33% compared to 31% in 1995. It is much

higher than the sub-African Africa average at 18%.

Secondly, the industry sector increased only from 16%

to 20% of GDP in the same period; continues to be

lower than the sub-Saharan Africa average. Finally, the

service sector dropped from 53% of GDP in 1995 to

48% in 2015. Overall, Kenya is below the region

average at 58% in 2015 (Figure 8).

Agriculture; 61,1%

Mining and quarrying;

0,6%

Manufacturing; 3,6%

Electricity, gas and

water; 0,2%

Construction; 2,4%

Trade, hotels and

restaurants; 13,7%

Transport and

communications; 3,1%

Finance, real estate and

business services;

1,1%

Community, social and

personal services;

14,3%

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Figure 8: Sector Share in Kenya, % of GDP, 1995-2015

Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition

Labour productivity in Kenya was growing slowly

during the last decade. The rate is still below the sub-

Saharan Africa average; the country remains with

significant lower labour productivity in comparison with

the global average (Figure 9). The relatively low

labour productivity growth is interrelated to the fact

that many jobs are low-productive self-employment

activities in the informal economy that generate lower

earnings.

Figure 9: Labour productivity trend, 2007-2016

Note: Labour productivity is defined as output per worker (i.e. GDP

constant 2011 international US$ in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)); and

indexed year 2000 (=100).

Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labour Market (KILM), 9th Edition

Migration

Overall the net migration changed during the last 15

years. A positive value of the net migration (i.e. more

people coming into Kenya than leaving) was estimated

at 25,144 persons in the period 1998-2002. Since

then, negative net migration has characterised Kenya

with a negative value of 50,000 persons in the net

migration up to 2012. On a ratio of net migration to

the average population per year, 1 out of 4,036

Kenyans population left the country per year. This was

almost half of the ratio of net migration to the average

population per year of sub-Saharan Africa average

(Table 15 and Figure 10). Data also demonstrate that

remittances received were estimated at 2.4% of GDP in

the period from 2011 to 2015 on average and it is in

line with the region average (Table 15).

Table 15: Migration Facts

Net migration, number

of persons

(2008-2012)

Kenya - 50,000

Ratio of net migration to

the average population

per year (2008-2012)

Kenya - 1 : 4,036

inhabitants

Sub-Saharan

Africa

- 1 : 2,589

Inhabitants

Personal transfers, i.e.

remittances received, %

of GDP (2011-2015,

av.)

Kenya 2.4 %

Sub-Saharan

Africa 2.4 %

Note: Net migration rate is the difference of immigrants and

emigrants in a period of time. A positive value represents more

people entering the country than leaving it, while a negative value

means more people leaving than entering it.

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators

Figure 10: Ratio of net migration to total population in Kenya and the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), 1998-2012

Note. The net migration trend is estimated as the net migration rate

divided by the total inhabitants. Net migration rate is the difference of

immigrants and emigrants in a period of time. A positive value

represents more people entering the country than leaving it, while a

negative value means more people leaving than entering it.

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators

Some key characters of Kenya’s migration trends are

related to the fact that the country is a regional hub for

irregular migration as a destination, origin and transit

31 32 27 28 33

16 17 19 21

20

53 51 54 51 48

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Agriculture Industry Services

114 111 111 116

120 122 124 126 131

135

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

Kenya

Sub-Saharan Africa

World

Kenya - Index year 2000 (=100) -10000

-8000

-6000

-4000

-2000

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

1998-2002 2003-2007 2008-2012

Kenya Sub-Saharan Africa



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Kenya 2016 Page 13

country towards South Africa, the Middle East and

North Africa, West Africa, Europe and North America.

Secondly, the vast majority of immigrants in Kenya are

from other African countries; the majority is from East

African countries. Thirdly, Kenya hosts one of the largest

refugee populations in Africa with an estimated

533,000 refugees hosted in two camps. This segment

witnessed a drop in recent years, and has contributed

to the net migration changes in Figure 10 above to

some extent. Fourth, Kenya is affected by internal

displacements as a result of conflict, natural disasters,

climate change and environmental degradation, and

forced evictions.31

The emigration has been driven by a search for

employment and education opportunities in top-

destinations like the United Kingdom, the United States

of America, the United Republic of Tanzania and

Uganda.

Another issue is that under-development in western

Kenya has made many workers migrate towards the

urban zones. The relatively high youth unemployment

has been a main driver of rural–urban migration and

youth emigration.

Migrant workers often lack formal organization and

consequently miss benefits of collective bargaining. As a

means to protect Kenyan domestic workers from unfair

labour practices abroad particularly in the Gulf

countries, a Migrant Workers' Bill was approved into

law in 2016, while the Ministry of labour deployed

labour attaches to the affected countries (See Table 4).

Informal Economy

The labour market is divided into a formal and informal

economy. As already mentioned, the formal sector is a

minority in terms of the total employment 16% in 2015.

In contrast, informal employment was estimated at 83%

of the total employment in 2015. It increased with 1.3%

since 2010 (Table 16). Kenya’s informal employment

rate is near the sub-Saharan Africa average that was

estimated at around 80% of the labour force.32

Table 16: Total and informal employment in Kenya 2010-2015

2010 2015 Change

%

Informal employment 9,371,100 12,559,600 34 %

Total employment 11,457,100 15,160,800 32 %

Ratio of informal economy in total employment

82 % 83 % 1.3 %


Other data revealed that 61% of non-agricultural

urban work was in informal economy where approx.

38% were in trade and 25% in non-domestic private

services, while 10% did domestic work. In terms of

gender, nearly half (48%) of women informal workers

in urban areas were in trade compared to 30% of men.

The 2nd largest category of urban informal workers was

services followed by domestic work.33

A survey rated workers on an informality scale from 1-

5, with 1 being workers not entitled to social benefits,

who do not contribute to social security and with no

contract. It shows that 44% are in the two most informal

categories and 23% in the most formal category. The

survey also showed that the informality index correlates

age, i.e. with more young people in informal

employment as well as correlates wages, i.e. with more

than double the median wage at very formal

employment compared to very informal; and youth is

particularly over-represented.34

The increase in the informal employment suggests that

most new jobs are created in the informal economy,

crowding out jobs in the formal sector. According to

sources, the informal economy is absorbing about two-

thirds of annual new employment opportunities in

Kenya.35

In recent years, both employers’ organizations and

trade union federations have found more interest of the

informal economy as new membership recruitment.36 As

previously mentioned, the informal workers are

becoming more organized into associations,

cooperatives, and unions. There are eleven umbrella

associations/unions representing informal workers in

Kenya. The associations represent more than 600

informal sector groups. Several informal ‘sector’ unions

are collaborating with COTU even though not yet being

affiliated.

There are a series of challenges of taxing enterprises in

the informal economy, e.g. mistrust and weak structural

dialogue between informal economy and government

as well as tax evasion and corruption as normal way of

doing business (see also Table 24).

Child Labour

The constitution gives children legal protection from

hazardous or exploitative labour as well as the

Children’s Act from 2001 explicitly prohibits forced

labour, trafficking, and other practices similar to

slavery. However, the government lacks sufficient

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Kenya 2016 Page 14

resources to monitor the law’s implementation in

practice. On the positive side, a list of specific jobs

considered hazardous that would constitute the worst

forms of child labour was published in February 2014.

The government collaborates with COTU, FKE and

donors to eliminate child labour. Among others they

participate in the National Steering Committee on the

Elimination of Child Labour and they meet quarterly

together with other stakeholders such as NGOs.

According to the 2009 National Census, almost three

million children between ages five and 14 (33%) were

engaged in child labour. According to sources, many

children worked on family plots or in family units on tea,

coffee, sugar, sisal, tobacco, and rice plantations.

Children also worked in mining and in the fishing

industry. In urban areas, businesses employed children

in hawking, scavenging, carrying loads, fetching and

selling water, and selling food. In addition, children

often worked long hours as domestic servants in private

homes for little or no pay.37

Based on the most recent survey in child labour in

Kenya, the total number of working children was

estimated of 1,012,184 children in 2006 out of which

53% were boys and 47% were girls. This suggests that

the number of working children dropped by 53% from

1999 where 1.9 million children were registered as

working children. According to the 2006 survey, about

90% of the total number of working children was found

in the rural areas. The age distribution of the working

children was highest among the age group 15-17

(48%), 10-14 (36%), and 5-9 (16%). Only 15% of

working children were in wage employment.

Table 17: Working Children, proportion of all children ages 5-17

Region Year Type Proportion

Kenya 2006 Working children 7.9 %

Hazardous work 2.5 % *

Sub-Saharan Africa

2008

Children in employment 28 %

Child labourers 25 %

Hazardous work 13 %

* This is data from 2008.

Note: Children in employment include all children who conduct some kind

of work, whereas child labourers are a narrower term without mild

forms of work. Hazardous work is the worst from of child labour as

defined in ILO C182.

Source: Kenya National Budget Survey, Kenya Integrated Household

Budget Survey, 2005/06; and ILO, Accelerating action against child

labour, International Labour Conference, 99th Session 2010

There are other reasons to believe that child labour fell

in Kenya due to the introduced free and compulsory

primary education in 2003 (see also the section:

Education).

The National Policy on Child Labour was approved in

October 2016 after 15 years of lobbying. This policy is

informed by the ILO Conventions 138 and Convention

182.

Gender

During this report, it has been demonstrated that the

labour market has a wide range of gender gaps that

most often favor men: Men have lower unemployment,

higher employment as well as waged workers rates

than women. Actually only 29% of those who are

earning a formal wage are women, leaving a huge

percentage of women to work under vulnerable

conditions in the informal economy. In practice, the

workplace has traditionally been men dominated,

especially at higher management levels where policy

issues are discussed. But women's voice is gradually

becoming more and more heard.38

Women have slightly less education than men with a

smaller difference than neighbouring countries.

Nevertheless, this has created some barriers for women

to obtaining better-paid jobs, including on commercial

farms.

ILO has noted a need for increased gender equity in

trade union membership and leadership levels in Kenya.

COTU has set the goal of having 30% women trade

union leaders. As mentioned, COTU (K) elected three

women General Secretaries in 2016 and the

constitution was amended to provide a definite position

of the Women Committee into the Board. The congress

also adopted the first COTU (K) Gender Policy. By the

same token, the organization is collaborating with the

trade union confederation for the East African

Community (EATUC) to promote gender equality, both

within the labour movement and in Kenya.

A 2013 Enterprise Survey reported that 49% of firms

had female participation in ownership, which is higher

than the sub-Saharan Africa average at 36%. Again,

firms with women managers remain low in Kenya

(Figure 11).

http://www.knbs.or.ke/pdf/Basic%20Report%20(Revised%20Edition).pdf

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Kenya 2016 Page 15

Figure 11: Women in management and ownership in Kenya, 2013

Source: The World Bank, Kenya Enterprises surveys, 2013

Other issue is that the government is establishing the

National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC)

through the enactment of the National Gender and

Equality Commission Act from 2011.39

Youth

A critical issue that confronts the Kenya’s labour market

is that 800,000 youths leave school each year and

begin looking for formal sector employment. As

already mentioned, it is only a minority that succeed.

This is illustrated by the high youth unemployment,

growing informal economy with high underemployment;

many becoming pushed towards internal migration,

emigration or otherwise becomes inactive on the labour

market.

In 2016, the government launched the process of

reviewing the somewhat out of date National Youth

Policy. This includes focusing on improving the

employment issues for the youth in Kenya. So far, the

previous youth policy had identified skills development

of the youth through vocational training and imparting

life skills as an important issue. However, the youth

bulge has a frail entrepreneurship culture. This is a

result of some weaknesses in the education system.

Among others, although the enrolment in schooling is on

a rise on all levels, Kenya has a very low participation

rate in vocational training (see more in the sub-section:

Vocational Training). It is also cumbersome starting a

business with some improvements in recent years, though

(see also Table 24). On the positive side, Forbes Africa

recently released a list of Africa’s 30 best

entrepreneurs under 30 years old. It is notable that 7

out of the 30 entrepreneurs are Kenyan.40

The Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) financed

over 157,000 youth enterprises and contributed to

create over 300,000 jobs within five years.41 But an

analysis of YEDF concluded that most youth have not

been properly informed on how the fund can be

accessed as well as low repayment rates. Moreover,

there lack of monitoring and capacity building is

insufficient concerning gender imbalance.42

Many youth have become discouraged and have begun

to leave the labour market entirely. On this

background, the COTU (K) called the attention that the

youth seeking employment abroad due to the high

youth unemployment rate, and the risk of ending up in

slavery and servitude despite assurance from some

government officers and a clique of unscrupulous

employment agents and bureaus.43

The Government of Kenya’s Youth Employment Scheme

Abroad aims to match Kenyan youth to employment

opportunities abroad. Data has illustrated that between

2008 and 2013, 13,535 youth went abroad for

employment under this scheme.

EDUCATION

Population in Kenya has an average of almost seven

years of schooling. Males have higher rates on all

education levels. The Table 18 below shows the

educational attainment of all Kenyans above 25 years,

therefore gives a glance of the human capital of the

labour force.

Table 18: Highest level attained and years of schooling in the population 2010, Population 25+, Male and Female

Highest Level Attained Male Female

No Schooling 28 % 25 %

Primary Begun 45 % 49 %

Completed 24 % 22 %

Secondary Begun 26 % 18 %

Completed 19 % 11 %

Tertiary Begun 9.9 % 6.8 %

Completed 6.4 % 4.5 %

Average year of total schooling

7.2 years 5.8 years

Note: Primary, secondary and tertiary is the internationally defined distinction of education. In Denmark these corresponds to grundskole, gymnasium& university. Source: Barro, Robert and Jong-Wha Lee, April 2010, "A New Data Set of Educational Attainment in the World, 1950-2010." NBER Working Paper No. 15902

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Firms with female topmanager

Firms with femaleparticipation in ownership

Kenya Sub-Saharan Africa Lower income

http://www.enterprisesurveys.org/~/media/GIAWB/EnterpriseSurveys/Documents/Profiles/English/kenya-2013.pdf

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Kenya 2016 Page 16

Kenya has successfully implemented free and

compulsory primary education through age 13 in 2003.

Data show an increasing net enrolment in primary

school since 2006 and was hovering far above the sub-

Saharan Africa average. There has been a widen

gender gap with slightly more females than males in

recent years. To some extent this has also been

reflected by the marginally higher segment of working

children who are males than females (Figure 12).

Kenya’s free primary education is still constrained by

insufficient school infrastructure, overcrowding in schools,

late or non-disbursement of funds by some development

partners, regional enrolment disparities and the

devastating impact, which HIV has had on the sector.44

On the enrolment in secondary school was also very

high in Kenya and continued on a fast enrolment

increase that peaked above 55% in 2012. And it is

much higher than the sub-Saharan Africa average

(Figure 12).

In contrast, Kenya had a much lower enrolment in

tertiary level that the region average. However, this

enrolment rate is on a rise. There is a deep gender gap

favouring males (see more on Figure 12). Despite the

high enrolment in tertiary level influx, the country’s

universities are faced with both decreased government

subsidies and the removal of alternate source of

funding. By the same token, ‘massification’ and

overcrowding are challenges along with an ever

growing demand.

Figure 12: Enrolment in Primary Secondary and Tertiary schools 2000-2012, Male and Female, Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), %

Source: World Bank, Education Statistics

According to an analysis, education was not an obstacle

for entry into agricultural employment. Low education

levels significantly raised the probability of informal

economy entry while higher education levels

discouraged entry. Instead higher education levels

increased chance of entering wage employment. This

suggested that educational expansion would increase

females’ access to the wage sector. For males, more

education would increase access into public sector. In

addition, education impacted positively on incomes in

the public sector, the private sector, and the informal

economy.45 Here the challenge remained that the

formal sector did not create sufficient decent jobs.

Among others, this has been related to the fact that

public sector job opportunities were shrinking due to

public sector reforms during the 2000s as well as a fast

growing labour force. Not to mention, this was also

reflected by the relatively high youth unemployment in

Kenya.

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90Net enrolment in primary school

Kenya -Male

Kenya -Female

SSA -Male

SSA -Women

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

Net enrolment in secondary school

Kenya -Male

Kenya -Female

SSA -Male

SSA -Women

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10Gross enrolment in terciary school

Kenya -Male

Kenya -Female

SSA -Male

SSA -Women

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Kenya 2016 Page 17

Vocational training

The Technical and Vocational Education and Training

Authority (TVETA) is a State Corporation established

under the Technical and Vocational Education and

Training (TVET) Act from 2013. Reforms were launched

in 2015 aimed at streamlining TVET with the creation of

a funding board.

Kenya’s education system has placed emphasis on the

formal academic education. Currently there are about

748 Technical, Industrial, Vocational and

Entrepreneurship Training (TIVET) institutions and is

ambitiously pursuing a policy that will set up at least

one polytechnic in each county in an effort to train more

artisans. However, only 350 of the youth polytechnics

receive government assistance. The private sector

operates close to 1,000 commercial colleges that offer

courses in computers and non-technical areas of

training.46

According to Figure 12 in the previous section, Kenya

has a considerable higher enrolment in secondary

education than the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.

However, few of the pupils in secondary education are

in vocational training. The low share of vocational

training is not counterbalanced by higher tertiary

education.

Almost six times less Kenyans are in vocational training

in comparison with the sub-Saharan Africa average. It is

also interesting to observe that females (58%) have a

higher ratio of vocational training in secondary

education than males (42%) as well as hovering far

above the sub-Saharan Africa average (40%). By the

same token, the number of teachers in secondary

vocational training dropped significantly in Kenya by

41% from 2006 to 2009. More details are available

on (Table 19 & Figure 13). One of the reasons has

been related to emphasizing professional courses and

other factors were under-enrolment into technical

courses. This resulted in a fewer number of people with

technical skills.

Table 19: Vocational Training facts

Kenya 2006 2009

Pupils in Vocational Training 22,952 15,672

Enrolment in secondary

vocational, females 14,210 9,061

Teachers in secondary

vocational education 3,270 1,937

Comparative estimations Country/region %

Secondary education, Kenya 58 %

vocational pupils (% women) Sub-Saharan

Africa 40 %

Ratio of pupils in vocational

student to all pupils in

secondary education

Kenya 0.8 %

Sub-Saharan

Africa 5.7 %

Ratio of pupils in vocational

training out of 15-24 year

olds

Kenya 0.3 %

Sub-Saharan

Africa 2.8 %

Note: Kenya’s ratio of pupils in vocational training to all pupils in secondary education were calculated on average for the period 2006-2009, while the sub-Saharan Africa region is an average of the period 2001-2014. The 15-24 year olds are calculated as an average in the period 2005-2015.47 Source: World Bank, Education Statistics

Figure 13: Pupils in vocational training to all pupils in secondary education, 2000-2009, %

Source: World Bank, Education Statistics

Data presented above indicate that the country

produces insufficient trained workers with technical skills

to support a higher labour productivity, industrialization

and economic transformation. Some of the main

challenges of technical and vocational education

training in Kenya are coupled with a bias against

technical courses among youth because many believe

that they are of low value than professional courses

which promise a higher paying job as well as a higher

social status. In addition, the country has experienced a

weakening in the quality of training offered in training

centers as a result of declining number of quality

trainers, a lack of modern and efficient machine and

equipment. This has stymied more youth’s access to the

formal labour market as well as, to some extent,

presented the structural relatively high youth

unemployment.

By the same token, at least 92% have no vocational or

professional skills training which worsens the situation

and limits their chances of fully participating in the

formal sector. On this background, ILO argued that

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

0%

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2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

7%

8%

9%

Kenya (%)

Sub-Saharan Africa (%)

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Kenya 2016 Page 18

there is a weak linkage between education and training

institutions and industry in development of curricula just

as an absence of integrated industrial training and

attachment programs. Moreover, there is a gap

between the level of technology used by industry and

those used by the education and training service

providers to undertake training.48

In practice, the TIVET are unevenly distributed in Kenya.

The institutions are mostly concentrated in economically

endowed counties not in the more arid and semi-arid

areas. Moreover, the training centers often suffer from

under-funding as there are normally no or very small

allocations of funds to technical training centers in the

budget. Finally, there is a lack of relevance in skills

taught that match with occupational and social realities

present in today's economy. Some training centers

continue to teach skills that no longer have a market

and ignore those that do have, according to sources.49

Non-formal TVET sector has been neglected by the

government. The sector has been generally left to civil

societies organizations and few target groups are

reached.

SOCIAL PROTECTION

Kenya has traditional informal and formal social

protection systems. The coverage is high for the workers

from the formal sector at an estimated 98%. In contrast,

the coverage of workers from the informal economy

remains low at 16%.50 A National Social Protection

Policy was approved in 2012.51 The government is

moving towards an integrated social protection system.

There is a wide range of health related interventions,

e.g. the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF)

provides hospital coverage for members and their

dependants. An enhanced package of National Health

Insurance Fund (NHIF) was initiated in 2015 and there

was an increased enrolment membership in 2016

peaking of 5,213,200 workers of whom 1,991,614 are

from the informal economy with access to

comprehensive treatment.

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) protects

members – both from the formal sector and the informal

economy – against poverty and vulnerability at old

age. Total number of members enrolled into the

compulsory NSSF is about 3,981,300. The institution has

been criticised for giving low retirement benefits and

for 77% of funds being absorbed by administration

costs, giving both employers and employees incentive to

stay out of the NSSF.52

Safety nets programs are implemented by different

public, private or NGO agencies. They tend to have a

median size of 120,000 beneficiaries per program.

Overall, by June 2016, 822,408 households were

benefiting from cash transfers. The types of safety nets

other than relief and recovery are programs and

projects with specified targeted beneficiaries in the

domains social cash transfer, health, education, and

agriculture. During the period from 2013 to 2016

increased funding for the cash transfers from Ksh7.9

billion (US$91 million) to Ksh21.2 billion (US$209

million), respectively. The government launched a

registry to promote transparency in social protection

programs in September 2016. The development of the

new registry is meant to boost allocation of resources

and make sure only rightful beneficiaries access the

kitty.

Through the Social Protection Fund about 3,930 elderly

and vulnerable population are receiving monthly cash

transfers. There are also three active labour market

programs as well as a wide range of other social

empowerment programs and devolved funded

programs.

Around 39% of the total population is covered by

health social protection. This is a higher rate than the

Africa average at 25%. In reality, the government’s

expenditure in health has been on a declining trend at

1.0% per year in the period 2007-2011. Kenya has

also a low health-care expenditure not financed by

private household's out-of-pocket payments in

comparison with the neighbouring countries in the

Eastern African countries (Table 20 & Figure 14).

Table 20: Social protection facts in Kenya, 2010

Indicator Measure Kenya Africa

Total social protection expenditure

% of GDP 2.8 % 4.3 %

Public health care expenditure

% of GDP 1.5 % 2.6 %

Health social protection coverage

% of total population

39 % 25 %*

Trends in government expenditure in health

% change per year

-1.0 % N/a

* The average covers the entire Africa region.

Source: ILO, Social Protection, Statistics and indicators

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Kenya 2016 Page 19

Figure 14: Total health-care expenditure not financed by private household's out-of-pocket payments 1995-2011, Eastern African countries, %

Source: ILO, Addressing the Global Health Crisis: Universal Health

Protection Policies, Social Protection Policy Papers, Paper 13, 2014

Government spending was largely directed to Civil

Service Pensions. All government employees can claim

retirement when they are 60 years old onwards.

Around 16% are active contributors to pension schemes,

which is close to double as high than the sub-Saharan

Africa average (Table 21).

Table 21: Pension Benefits, Coverage and Contributions in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa, 2010, %

Theme Measure Kenya SSA

Social benefits for active

age % of GDP 0.1 % 0.3 %

Pensionable age receiving

an old age pension (age

60+)

Proportion

of total 7.9 % 22 %

Active contributors to a

pension scheme 15+ 16 % 8.4 %

Active contributors to a

pension scheme

15-64

years 11 % 5.9 %

Source: ILO, Social Protection, Statistics and indicators

GENERAL ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

Kenya is the largest economy as well as one of the most

dynamic members of the East Africa Community (EAC).

It is a transport regional hub based on a strong private

sector and a low-middle income country. The Gross

Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 5.3% on average in

the period from 2006 to 2015 (Table 22).

Table 22: Key Facts on General Economic Performance in Kenya, 2015

GDP 63.4 billion US$

GDP real growth

(2006-2015, av.) 5.3 %

Doing Business * (2017) +21 change in rank

92 of 190 countries

Human Development Index ** -1 change in rank

146 of 188 countries

Gini Index *** (2008) 42.5

51 of 145 countries

* A high ranking on the Ease of Doing Business Index means the

regulatory environment is more conducive to the start-up and operation

of a local firm.53 Doing Business ranking change is in the period 2016-

2017.

** The Human Development Index (HDI) measures the average of a

long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and a decent standard of

living. HDI ranking change is in the period 2009-2014.

*** A Gini coefficient of 1 (or 100 percent) expresses maximal

inequality among values. This Gini Index ranks the first country with the

highest inequality while the number 145 has the highest equality.

Source: CIA, The World Factbook, Kenya; World Bank, World

Development Indicators; World Bank & IFC, Ease of Doing Business

2016/2017 in Kenya; and UNDP, Human Development Index trends

The GDP per capita growth was hovering above the

region average during the last decade, except a

downturn in 2008 related to a depreciation of the

shilling relative to the US dollar along with a high

inflation (Figure 15). The economic growth is projected

to stay high during 2016 and 2017 based on a

positive outlook to low oil prices, good agriculture

performance, supportive monetary policy, and ongoing

infrastructure investments.54

Figure 15: GDP growth per capita, 2006-2015, Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa, Annual %

Source:World Bank, World Development Indicators;

On a different view, Kenya’s GDP per capita measured

in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is below the sub-

Saharan Africa average with a ranking 185 out of 229

countries (1 is highest). The country is slowly curbing this

gap. On the other hand, according to the Gini Index,

the inequality in the distribution of family income has

experienced a drop from 49% in 2005 to 43% in

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Burundi Kenya Rwanda

Tanzania Uganda

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015Kenya Sub-Saharan Africa

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---soc_sec/documents/publication/wcms_325647.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---soc_sec/documents/publication/wcms_325647.pdf

http://www.social-protection.org/gimi/gess/ShowTheme.do?tid=10

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke.html

http://data.worldbank.org/




http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi




Kenya 2016 Page 20

2008 (Figure 16). Thus, the country has a relatively

high-medium level of income equality of 51 out of 145

countries, ranking next to Burundi and Israel.

Figure 16: GDP per capita in Purchasing Power Parity (US$) and Gini Index, 2005-2015

Note: The comparison of the inequality in the distribution of family

income (Gini Index) should be interpreted with some reservations due to

diverging sources, but can still be applied as proxy indicators.

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators and

It has been noted that the Human Development Index

(HDI) ranking changed on a negative value on a margin

from 2009-2014 to 2010-2015 reaching HDI rank 146

out of 188 countries (1 is highest) (Table 22).

The latest measurements of working poor in Kenya were

from 2005. These data showed that 34% of the

population was extremely poor living with less than

US$1.9 per day and 24% were moderately poor living

between US$1.9 and US$3 per day. Stated

differently, 58% of the population lives below US$3

per day. It is interesting to note that the number of

extremely poor grew by 12 percentiles from 1997 to

2005 while the moderately poor’s was flat at 0%. In

the light of a middle-class it was registered that the

near poor and the developing middle class segments

dropped slightly in the same period, that is -4% and -

6%, respectively (Table 23). Factually, Kenya had a

much lower poverty and a higher middle-class during

the 1990s and the 2000s in comparison with the sub-

Saharan Africa average.

Table 23: Poverty and middle-class trends in Kenya, 1997-2005

Estimated poverty line 1997 2005 Growth

Percentile 1997-2005

Extremely poor (<US$1.9 a day)

22 % 34 % 12 %

Moderately poor (≥US$1.9 & <US$3 a day)

24 % 24 % 0 %

Near poor (≥ US$3 & <US$5 a day)

25 % 21 % -4 %

Developing middle class (≥US$5 & <US$13 a day)

23 % 17 % -6 %

Note: The poverty l ine i s based on headcount , i .e. % of

population on living in households with consumption or income per

person below the set poverty line.

Source: World Bank, PovcalNet

Attempts of reverting the poverty growth has been

supported by the relatively high minimum wage

increases along with the coverage of health social

protection, social safety nets and enrolment in

education. It explains, to some extent, the just

mentioned decreasing inequality in the country.

However, this report also shown that the wage

employment has relatively not increased, confronting a

relatively high unemployment rate and a large majority

of the labour force operates in the informal economy

during the 2010s, so far. On this background, the drop

of the middle-class during the 2000s is a signal that the

labour market does not include the continuous high

influx of workers into the modern formal sector. This

challenges the evolution of the middle-class during the

rest of the 2010s and onwards.

The inflation in consumer prices has been relatively high

and volatile in Kenya during the last decade and

hovering above the region average. As an example, in

2011 there was a drastic currency depreciation

followed by a rapid increasing inflation up to 14%. The

inflation decelerated afterwards standing at around

7% during the period from 2013 to 2015 (Figure 17).

As demonstrated on Figure 3 the inflation created a

significant gap between the nominal minimal wage and

the real minimum wage. According to sources, the

Inflation in 2016 has remained within the government

target rate, largely driven by food inflation. Kenya

continues to benefit from low fuel prices and good

rains, a stable macroeconomic environment, and good

monetary policy action.55

48,5

42,5

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

Kenya Sub-Saharan Africa Kenya - GINI Index (rights)


http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/povOnDemand.aspx



Kenya 2016 Page 21

Figure 17: Inflation in consumer prices trend 2006-2015, Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa, %


Kenya’s capital formation has followed the sub-Sahara

Africa average with a slightly higher stance (Figure 18).

This figure signals how much of the new value added in

the economy is invested rather than consumed; thus,

Kenya is on a positive side in terms of strengthening its

economy and increasing the productivity.

Figure 18: Gross Fixed Capital Formation trend 2006-2015, Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa, % of GDP


The Doing Business indexed Kenya as 92 out of 190

countries in 2017, improved pointedly from a 113

ranking in 2016. Not to mention, the country is scoring

better than the sub-Saharan Africa average, but it

remains a lower ranking than countries such as

Botswana (56) and Rwanda (49).

Out of ten indicators, the country still scores quite low

on dealing with construction permits (152), paying taxes

(125) and registering property (121). Especially

starting a business improved (from 150 to 116) and

protecting minority investors (from 112 to 87) improved

their stand. Albeit getting credit fell by three steps on

the ranking it remains the highest indicators of 32 out of

190 countries (see more on Table 24).

Table 24: Kenya’s Ease of Doing Business

Topics 2017 2016 Change

Starting a Business 116 150 34

Dealing with Construction Permits 152 155 3

Getting Electricity 106 127 21

Registering Property 121 122 1

Getting Credit 32 29 3

Protecting Minority Investors 87 112 25

Paying Taxes 125 122 3

Trading Across Borders 105 107 2

Enforcing Contracts 87 85 2

Resolving Insolvency 92 140 48

Note: Ease of doing business index (1=most business-friendly

regulations). Doing Business 2016/17 indicators are ranking from 1

(top) to 190 (bottom) among other countries. The rankings tell much

about the business environment, but do not measure all aspects of the

business surroundings that matter to firms and investors or that affect

the competitiveness of the economy. Still, a high ranking does mean that

the government has created a regulatory environment conducive to

operating a business.

Note: This Doing Business Index has been controversial due to flawed

data in some sections, e.g. undervalued paying taxes.56 However, the

table above can still be used as indicative measurement with

reservations.

Source: World Bank & IFC, Ease of Doing Business 2016/2017 in Kenya The governance environment in Kenya has experienced

some small improvements during the period from 2010

to 2015 in terms of rule of law, government

effectiveness as well as voice and accountability;

moving towards a medium level. The political stability

continues to be very fragile and the control of

corruption lingers with a very low ranking on the

Governance Indicators (see more on Table 25).

Table 25: Kenya's Governance Indicators, 2010-2015 Score, Percentiles and Change

Year Voice &

Accountability

Political

Stability

Government

Effectiveness

2010 -0.23/40%

-1.17/13%

-0.34 / 37%

2015 -0.18/42% -1.29/9.1% -0.29 / 44%

Year Regulatory

Quality Rule of Law

Control of

Corruption

2010 -0.07/50%

-0.99/ 17%

-0.93 / 17%

2015 -0.29/43% -0.49/ 36% -1.01 / 14%

Note: The Governance Indicators score from ‐2.5 to 2.5 while the

percentiles rank from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest).57

Source: World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015


15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015




http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/nicaragua/#starting-a-business

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/nicaragua/#dealing-with-construction-permits

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/nicaragua/#getting-electricity

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/nicaragua/#registering-property

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/nicaragua/#getting-credit

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/nicaragua/#protecting-investors

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/nicaragua/#paying-taxes

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/nicaragua/#trading-across-borders

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/nicaragua/#enforcing-contracts

http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/nicaragua/#resolving-insolvency



http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.aspx#reports



Kenya 2016 Page 22

TRADE

Kenya plays an important role in East Africa as a

regional centre for trade and finance. The country has

a quite visible trade gap with an unfavourable balance

of trade, i.e. export of 16% of GDP and import of

29% in 2015. To point out, Kenya’s export is relatively

low in comparison with the region average as well as

on a declining trend during the last decade. The foreign

direct investment (FDI) has been very low but has been

on a rise in recent years peaking at 2.3% of GDP in

2015, and reaching the region average (see more on

Table 26 & Figure 19)

Table 26: Trade and Foreign Direct Investment in Kenya, 2015

Exports US$10 billion

16 % of GDP

Imports US$18 billion

29 % of GDP

FDI Flow US$1.4 billion

2.3 % of GDP

FDI Stock (2016) US$5.5 billion

8.0 % of GDP

Source: CIA, The World Factbook, Kenya; World Bank, World

Development Indicators

These above mentioned trade trends have been related

to the real appreciation of the Kenyan currency which

eroded the competitiveness and shifting the export

sector. Among others, there was a fast increase in the

export of refined petroleum, but the downturn of the

international oil prices has affected negatively on the

export sector. Other challenges in Kenya include the

underdeveloped infrastructure and lengthy shipping

times. On the other hand, Kenya, in collaboration with

Ethiopia and South Sudan, intended to begin

construction on a transport corridor and oil pipeline into

the port of Lamu in 2014.

Figure 19: Trade and Foreign Direct Investment trends 2006-2015, % of GDP

Source:World Bank, World Development Indicators

The country's main export market is the European Union

(EU) followed by Uganda, Tanzania and the United

States (Figure 20).

Figure 20: Kenya's main export markets, 2015

Source: European Commission, DG TRADE, Bilateral Relations, Statistics

Agricultural products are the majority of the country’s

export but refined petroleum is on a rise (Figure 20).

Figure 21: Kenya’s main products share of exports, 2014

Source: MIT, The Observatory of Economic complexity, What does

Kenya Export

Trade Agreements

Kenya is part of the EAC that includes: Burundi,

Rwanda, Tanzania & Zanzibar and Uganda. The EAC

free trade agreement from 1999 contains a labour

provision with cooperation on employment and working

conditions with an emphasis on gender equality and

discriminatory law and practices. Likewise, the labour

provision of the COMESA agreement extends to

cooperation on employment conditions and labour

law.58

In 2005 the EAC established a customs union and in

2010 the EAC agreed to establish full common market

with free movement for workers, goods, services and

capital.

0

10

20

30

40

50

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015Kenya - Export Kenya - ImportKenya - FDI SSA - ExportSSA - Import SSA - FDI

EU; 21%

Uganda; 11%

Tanzania; 8%

United States; 8%

Zambia; 6%

Pakistan; 4%

Congo; 4%

Others; 39%

Tea 16%

Cut Flowers 12%

Coffee 4%

Refined Petroleum

12%

Legumes 3%

Other 53%

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke.html




http://ec.europa.eu/trade/creating-opportunities/bilateral-relations/statistics/

http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/ken/

http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/ken/



Kenya 2016 Page 23

Kenya is also part of the 2000 Cotonou Agreement

between EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)

countries, which reaffirms commitment to ILO’s

Fundamental Conventions and includes a labour

provision on cooperation on various labour and social

issues.

Freedom of association and collective bargaining is

protected in the EAC common market in the sense that

an EAC migrant worker has equal rights as a national.59

The free movement of labour within the EAC opens up

questions of how to achieve equal opportunities and

equal social and labour rights for migrant workers, for

example if workers can bring pensions with them across

borders. On the other hand, the free movement of

labour is also a source of concern in some of the EAC

countries, as the countries workforces have differences

in productivity and educational level. However, the

actual implementation of the economic integration have

slowed down the last few years especially with regards

to lifting barriers to trade and free movement of

labour. Although formal tariffs are increasingly being

abolished, trade is still challenged by non-tariff

barriers and corruption.

The objective of the East African trade union movement

is to safeguard workers’ interests in the EAC, ensure that

ILO standards are upheld and member states’ labour

policies are harmonized and the tripartite model is

institutionalized, while the free movement of labour is

promoted. The movement reached observer status in the

EAC in 2009, and along with employers’ organizations

they participate in ministerial summits, sectoral summits,

and other summits that involve labour market issues.

However, the EAC council of Ministers responsible for

Labour has not been convened since 2010.

Through the EAC, Kenya can export duty and quota

free to EU since 2008, and will have to gradually

remove duties and quotas from EU exports to Kenya on

most products, except the products deemed to need

protection from EU imports. These include agricultural

products, wines and spirits, chemicals, plastics, wood

based paper, textiles and clothing - the products which

dominates Kenya’s exports to EU.

The EAC commits Kenya to adopt measures to the free

movement of persons and labour from the other five

member states. Kenya has abolished work permit fees

for EAC citizens, but rejection rates on work permit

applications are still reported to be high. For migrants

from other countries an entry permit is granted if the

foreigner is of benefit to Kenya, and an employer who

employs a foreigner must submit a report to the

authorities.

Since 2001, Kenya has benefitted from the United

States’ African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA),

which is a Generalised System of Preferences. It allows

duty and quota free access for some products.

Export Processing Zones (EPZ)

Investors at EPZs in Kenya are entitled to a 10 year-

corporate tax holiday and 25% tax thereafter; a 10-

year withholding tax holiday, stamp duty exemption,

100% investment deduction on initial investment

applied over 20 years and VAT exemption on

industrial inputs. The investors are restricted to selling

only 20% of their produce to the Kenyan market while

80% is exported.

Prior to 2005, the Kenyan government did not allow

EPZ workers the freedom to unionize or engage in

collective bargaining. It triggered strikes during the

2000s. Due to reforms of the labour laws, including the

right to organize and bargain collectively, apply in the

EPZs. On the other hand, labour standards are often

worse in EPZs.

The Factories Act deals with the health, safety and

welfare of an employee, who works in a factory. Many

exemptions to the labour law are made, for example

with a law that prevents women from working in

industrial activities at night. Most firms in EPZs have still

refused to recognize trade unions and obstructed their

efforts to organize workers. The use of temporary

employment has an effect on workers’ ability to

unionize. Overall, union membership of workers within

the EPZs has remained low, i.e. an estimated 14% of

workers were unionized.60 As an example, the Kenya

Textile Workers' Federation adds that getting workers

to join a union is difficult because the managers in EPZ

companies use nonregistered organizations to recruit

casuals on their behalf.61

The EPZs are mainly in the sectors of clothing/garments

manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and processing of

tea.62 Around 54% of EPZ exports go to the United

States under the AGOA.

The gazetted EPZs in Kenya increased from 42 in 2010

to 52 in 2014 and the employed grew by 33% from

31,502 to 46,738 in the same period (Figure 22). To

put it another way, the EPZs employment covered 2.0%

of the total wage employment in Kenya in 2014. The



Kenya 2016 Page 24

EPZs employment of expatriates was very low at 1.1%

of the total EPZ employment.

Figure 22: Kenya’s performance on EPZ key indicators, 2010-2014

Source: Export Processing Zones Program, Annual Performance Report,

2014

The average wage in the Kenya EPZs was lower than

the minimum wage with a gap on around 18%. It was

noted that the EPZ average wage increased by 41% in

the period from 2010 to 2014 (Figure 23).

Figure 23: Average monthly minimum wage and EPZ wage in Kenya, 2010-2014, Schillings

Note: Average monthly EPZ wage covers local employees.

Source: Export Processing Zones Authority, Annual Performance Report

& ILO, Global Wage Report 2016/17

A study from 2013 investigated the effect of trade

unions on employees’ welfare with a specific focus on

EPZ Tailors and Textile Workers Union affiliated

companies in the area of Athi River. The study revealed

that collective bargaining has affected employees'

wages and benefits positively.63 It was estimated that

wages within the EPZs on average were 22% higher

than minimum wage. Although the average wage in

Kenyan EPZs is lower than in many other African EPZs, it

is still higher than in Asian countries, such as Bangladesh,

China, and India.

Collective bargaining in Kenyan EPZs is still fragile and

improvements of working conditions remains critical, e.g.

workers within the Kenyan EPZs have put up with long

hours, unpredictable work and many are only hired on

a casual basis. According to sources, inspectors often

found violations of health and safety conditions in the

EPZs.64

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

50000

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Gazetted zones (left) Employed workers (right)

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

EPZ average monthly wages Minimum wage

http://www.epzakenya.com/index.php/annual-performance-report.html






Kenya 2016 Page 25

APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL DATA Table 27: Registered Trade Union membership in Kenya, 2016

Trade unions Total members Women

members

Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU (K))

Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers 7,192 1,320 Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union 10,371 2,690 Bakery, Confectionery Manufacturing & Allied Workers Union 29,700 14,600 Kenya Building, construction, Timber, Furniture & Allied Trades Employees Union 70,780 3,410 Kenya Chemical & Allied Workers Union 5,560 1,860 Kenya Engineering Workers Union 39,600 1,940 Kenya Game Hunting & Safari Workers Union 6,540 1,090 Kenya Union of Printing, Publishing, Paper, Manufacturing & Allied Workers 7,065 1,410 Kenya Plantation & Agricultural Workers Union 750,550 417,000 Kenya Scientific, Research, International, Technical & Allied Institutions 3,340 885 Banking Insurance & Finance Union 7,390 3,000 Communications Workers Union (CWU) 12,673 5,950 Railway Workers Union 1,065 185 Tailors & Textiles Workers Union 257,210 193,700 Transport & Allied Workers Union 13,302 445 Kenya Union of Entertainment & Music Industry Employees 2,450 1,100 Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals & Allied Workers 305,200 162,400 Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation Workers 194,017 67,100 Kenya Local Government Workers Union 196,040 83,300 Kenya Shipping, Clearing & Warehouses 3,466 950 Seafarers Workers Union 277 68 Kenya Quarry & Mine Workers Union 16,612 3,920 Kenya Electrical Trades Allied Workers Union 65,216 11,350 Kenya Shoe & Leather Workers Union 7,255 1,395 Kenya Jockey, Betting Workers Union 1,365 900 Union of National, Research Institutes 16,539 3,098 Kenya National Private Security Workers Union 155,544 41,500 Kenya Salon and Beauty Union 13,010 8,620 Kenya Hotels & Allied Workers Union 2,295 150 Kenya Union of Commercial, Food & Allied Workers 120,558 73,500 Kenya Aviation and Allied Workers Union 660 200 Kenya Union of Journalists 6,130 2,500 Kenya Long Distance Truck Drivers and Allied Workers Union 2,947 120 Kenya National Union of Nurses 61,900 36,100 Kenya Glass Workers Union 8,100 3,210 Kenya Water and Sewerage Workers Union 5,963 2,890 Kenya Union of Pre-Primary Education Teachers 2,140 1,705

Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers 94,700 51,300 Kenya Aviation Workers Union 4,575 2,390 Kenya Airline Pilots Association 570 90 Kenya Medical Practioners & Dentists Union 8,300 2,500 Kenya Private Universities Workers Union 600 120 Kenya Dock Workers Union 3,950 765 The Doctors Union and Private Universities Union - -

Trade Union Congress of Kenya (TUC-Ke)

Kenya National Union of Teachers 160,000 - Union of Kenya Civil Servants 23,300 10,950 University Academic Staff Union 3,680 1,870 Kenya Universities Staff Union 2,246 1,750 Kenya Union of Employees of Polytechnics - -

Independent Informal Economy Unions / associations partnering with COTU (K)

Matatu Workers Association 1,310 90 Women in Music Association N/A N/A Jua Kali Traders Association 1,110 10 Gikomba Traders Association 1,750 1,400 Public Transport Operators Union 650 9 Matatu Workers Union 1,200 15 Matatu Drivers and Conductors Workers Association 250 3 Nairobi Bodaboda Riders Association 1,600 0 Kenya Union of Employees of Voluntary and Charitable Organizations 35 25

Source: COTU; TUC-Ke; the LO/FTF Council; and the Kenya Economic Survey (2016).



Kenya 2016 Page 26

Table 28: List of approved labour related legislations in Kenya, 2014-2016

Type of legislation Legislation

2014

General provisions Persons Deprived of Liberty Act, 2014, No. 23 of 2014

General provisions Statute Law (Miscellaneous) (Amendment) Act, No. 18 of 2014

Education, vocational guidance and training

Kenya National Qualifications Framework Act, 2014, No. 22 of 2014

Specific categories of workers National Police Service (Amendment) Act, No 11 of 2014

Specific categories of workers National Police Service Commission (Amendment) Act, No 3 of 2014

2015

General provisions Special Economic Zones Act, 2015, No. 16 of 2015

General provisions Protection Against Domestic Violence Act, No. 2 of 2015

Specific categories of workers Public Service (Values and Principles) Act, 2015, No. 1A of 2015

2016

Specific categories of workers The Private Security Regulation Act

Elimination of child labour, protection

of children and young persons The Child Labour Policy

Source: ILO, NATLEX, Country Profile Kenya, Basic Laws and COTU (K)




Kenya 2016 Page 27

Table 29: Ratified ILO Conventions in Kenya, 2016

Subject and/or right Convention Ratification date

Fundamental Conventions

Freedom of association and collective bargaining

C087 - Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, 1948 1964

C098 - Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 Not ratified

Elimination of all forms of forced labour

C029 - Forced Labour Convention, 1930 1964

C105 - Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 1964

Effective abolition of child labour

C138 - Minimum Age Convention, 1973 1979

C182 - Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 2001

Elimination of discrimination in employment

C100 - Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 2001

C111 - Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 2001

Governance Conventions

Labour inspection C081 - Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 1964

C129 - Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 1979

Employment policy C122 - Employment Policy Convention, 1964 Not ratified

Tripartism C144 - Tripartite Consultation (International Labour Standards) Convention, 1976 1990

Up-to-date Conventions

Working time C014 - Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 1964

Wages C094 - Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 1964

C131 - Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 1979

Migrant workers C097 - Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 1965

C143 - Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 1979

Social security C118 - Equality of Treatment (Social Security) Convention, 1962 1971

Rural workers and industrial relations

C135 - Workers' Representatives Convention, 1971 1979

C141 - Rural Workers' Organisations Convention, 1975 1979

Vocational guidance and training

C140 - Paid Educational Leave Convention, 1974 1979

C142 - Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 1979

Seafarers C146 - Seafarers' Annual Leave with Pay Convention, 1976 1990

MLC - Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 2014

Specific categories of workers

C149 - Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 1990

Note: Fundamental Conventions are the eight most important ILO conventions that cover four fundamental principles and rights at work. Equivalent to

basic human rights at work.

Governance Conventions are four conventions that the ILO has designated as important to building national institutions and capacities that serve to

promote employment. In other words, conventions that promotes a well-regulated and well-functioning labour market.

In addition, there are 71 conventions, which ILO considers “up-to-date" and actively promotes.

Source: ILO, NORMLEX

http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/



Kenya 2016 Page 28

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