The Analysis of the historical relations between consumer cooperatives and the labour movement in Kenya

Abstract

Kenya celebrated 100 years in 2008 since the first Co-operative enterprise was established by British colonial settler community in Kipkelion in Kericho. Today, the Co-operative landscape in Kenya is dominated by Co-operatives in
four economic sectors: financial (mainly savings and credit, banking and insurance), agriculture (mainly for export crops), housing (mainly land buying and real estate development) and transport (mainly mini-bus public transport for urban and peri-urban areas). These Co-operatives employ about 450,000 people directly and perhaps close to 1 million in related support services. Three key categories of Co-operatives that have not taken off in Kenya include, but are not limited to, consumer Co-operatives, workers’ Cooperatives and environmentally-friendly Co-operatives. There is little understanding of the reasons for the low uptake of these categories of Cooperatives in Kenya. The research investigated the historical context in which the consumer Co-operatives emerged in Kenya; their chronological development; their organization structure and socio-economic impact. Based on the five key questions that guided the study, it was found that (a) many people and the labour movement institutions in Kenya do have full understanding of the nature, benefits and operations of Consumer Cooperatives (b) the main factors that have contributed to the failure of established consumer Co-operative enterprises is poor governance and management capacity of Co-operative leaders and members of consumer Cooperative enterprises (c) the labour movement played a key role in the establishment and support of consumer Co-operative enterprises during the colonial period and the first three decades after independence (1960s and 1980s) but now play an insignificant role today, and (d) the Kenyan government should provide the requite political good will and support national institutional structures to assure sustainability.