The MStory of the Informal Enterprises in Kenya: A Case Study of the Jua Kali Sub-Sector of Nairobi, 1899-1998.
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Date
2006
Authors
Kiruthu, Felix Macharia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The study examined the origin and the transformation of the jua kali sector of
Nairobi from 1899 to 1998, and its consequences on the African communities
in the town.
A case study research design based on qualitative procedures was adopted
employing three types of data, .namely: Archival data, oral interviews and
library research. Among the jua kali sites identified and examined in the study
included: Gikomba, Kamukunji, Ziwani, Kawangware, Kariobangi ,Githurai
and .Roysambu. 90 knowledgeable informants on the history of Nairobi and
jua kali sector were interviewed from 2001 to 2005. These included jua kali
operators, Non- Governmental Organisations' personnel, civil servants, and
Asian business people.
In order to analyse the complex relations in the jua kali sector of Nairobi, the
study adopted an integrated theoretical approach comprising the dependency
and underdevelopment approach, the articulation of modes of production and
the concept of neo-patrimonialism.
It is argued here that the city of Nairobi emerged as a colonial urban centre
along the Uganda railway and was, therefore, the product of international
capitalism, which creates a global division of labour that consigns the
periphery to primary production. The prime motive behind the construction of
the Uganda Railway was to facilitate British colonial authority, and
transportation of resources to the East Coast enroute to the metropole in
London. As the colonial headquarters in Kenya, Nairobi was strategic to the
British. It served as the administrative, commercial and transport centre for
organising the drainage of resources and surplus to the metropole.
A number of Christian Missionaries, Asians and white settlers settled in the
,
country, particularly near Nairobi, after the completion of the railway in 1901.
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The three groups were by the First World War socialising the African
communities to serve the colonial system, through western education,
apprenticeship and wage labour. Moreover, the alienation of land, forced
many Africans to migrate to the White settler farms, Nairobi and other urban
centres, in search of wage labour. Those who failed to secure wage labour in
Nairobi turned to hawking, prostitution and other marginal activities such as
the brewing of illegal liquor.
It is further argued that although a number of Africans acquired artisanal skills
from the government departments and mission schools by the inter war period,
very few of them practised artisanal businesses in Nairobi. Rather, most of
them acquired jobs in the formal sector. Therefore, the African pioneer jua
kali artisans were those who acquired their skills informally from the Asian
artisans.
The Second World War marked the increased exploitation of the Kenyan
economy. Desperate for more labour, financial and agricultural resources to
support the war effort, the British recruited more Africans into the war and
even allowed for a small number of manufacturing enterprises to be set up in
Nairobi. The war also led to an influx of Africans into Nairobi in search of
wage- employment opportunities. Many of them turned to the informal sector
particularly after the War. The demobilized soldiers and the African squatters
evicted from white settler farms after the mechanization of agriculture also
flocked into the city. Consequently, many Africans turned to petty theft,
illegal brewing of liquor, and prostitution in Nairobi as a way of survival.
Others turned to artisanal trades in Burma, Kariokor market and in the Nairobi
African locations such as Kibera, Pumwani and Mathare. They engaged in
carpentry, metal work, woodwork, bicycle and motor vehicle repair, as well as
shoe repair. Evidently, these jua kali trades, were a direct consequence of the
inadequate job opportunities in the waged sector of the economy.
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Unhappy with the illegal activities of the African entrepreneurs, the colonial
authorities in Nairobi resorted to constant harassment and arrests of the
African street traders and artisans. This contrasted sharply with the granting of
business premises and licenses to the African elite, viewed as loyalists by the
rest in Nairobi. It is, argued here that the harassment subjected to the
unemployed Africans and jua kali artisans resulted in the emergence of the
Mau Mau guerrilla movement in Nairobi. This could explain why the Mau
Mau activity in Nairobi involved frequent murders and other forms of
violence against the Europeans, Asians and the African loyalists who enjoyed
colonial patronage.
At independence in 1963, the influx control measures against African
movement into Nairobi were lifted. This in turn accelerated the influx of
thousands of the ex-detainees and other Africans who had been repatriated
from Nairobi during the Emergency. These were soon followed by thousands
of school leavers who sought better employment opportunities and higher
wages available in Nairobi. Evidently, the capitalist-oriented policies of the
Kenyatta government privileged the small group of Western investors and
African elite. Educated individuals in official positions acquired patronage
resources, including the best arable land. Consequently, the landless resorted
to the jua kali sector for a means of livelihood.
The Moi government inherited its predecessor's economic policies, at a time
when the oil prices were high and the cash crops from Kenya were performing
dismally at the international market. In the meantime, the international
political environment also took a new dimension especially after the collapse
of the former Soviet Union in 1989. Multilateral and the bilateral donors
began to enforce strict lending terms, including the Structural Adjustment
Programmes, on the country. It is against this background that many Kenyans
were pushed into the jua kali sector in the 1980s and 1990s. Although the Moi
regime re~ognised the important role played by the sector in the face of the
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economic crisis facing the formal sector of the economy, economic
mismanagement due to political patronage worsened the economic situation of
the jua kali operators. This was evident in the grabbing of jua kali plots and
the subsequent demolition of their sheds by politicians and government
officials. Conclusively, the jua kali sector produced several innovators and
entrepreneurs but these could not succeed fully without the strategic and
active support of the state.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of- the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mstory in The School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kenyatta University
Keywords
mstory, Informal Enterprises, Kenya, Jua Kali Sub-Sector, Nairobi, 1899-1998