Research Outputs

Journal Article: The life and death of old-age social security in late-colonial Kenya

Niels Boender

The last decade of colonial rule in Kenya witnessed a widespread debate about social security for African workers. The government sought to create a stable, permanent workforce, while workers wanted secure and improved conditions. Old-age security was central to these discussions, deemed necessary for the transition from the traditional security of rural land-owning to a ‘detribalised’ existence. This paper revisits the largely forgotten 1954–5 Social Security Committee, a key moment in the history of social welfare in East Africa. Formed at the intersection of colonial labour policy, humanitarian impulses, and African trade union activism, the Committee represented a rare instance of African participation in colonial social policymaking. Its deliberations on different models of social security – pensions versus provident funds, contributory versus non-contributory models, and inclusion of women, domestic workers, and peasants – exposed competing visions of race, labour, and welfare. The Committee’s recommendation for a comprehensive pension scheme echoed principles of universal social rights and risk pooling associated with the British postwar welfare state. Fiscal caution and intra-official tensions ensured it was not implemented. Kenya was left with a limited, contributory scheme that continues to frustrate many. This lost model illuminates both the ambitions and constraints shaping postcolonial welfare trajectories.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/17531055.2025.2597638?scroll=top&needAccess=true