Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129) - Kenya (Ratification: 1979)

The Committee notes the Government’s brief report for the period ending May 2000, and the report for 1999 of the Labour Department of the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development.

1. Difficulties in complying with reporting obligations. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Government is still not in a position to provide information on the activities of the labour inspectorate in the agricultural sector, as such information is combined with that on other sectors of economic activity. The Committee notes the request of the Government for ILO technical assistance so as to restructure the labour inspection system, which will improve the processes for the management of the statistical data required by the Convention. The Committee hopes that this assistance will be provided in the near future so as to enable it to meet the necessary conditions for the implementation of the Convention and to improve its compliance with the obligation to provide reports under article 22 of the Constitution of the ILO.

2. Need to identify data concerning inspection activities in the agricultural sector. Noting that the principal information concerning the agricultural sector provided in the annual report of the Labour Department is that most agricultural employers provide employees with housing in tea, sisal and coffee plantations, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate whether and, if so, the conditions of life of workers and their families are supervised by labour inspectors, as suggested by Article 6, paragraph 2, of the Convention.

3. Means of transport and inspections of agricultural enterprises. With reference to the information provided in the report of the Labour Department concerning the trends in inspections in all sectors of activity combined, the Committee notes that, while in 1999 an increase of 13 per cent in the total number of inspections was registered in relation to 1998, certain services still suffer from an absence of means of transport and the old age and unreliability of vehicles, where they exist. The report indicates that provincial and district labour officers have been requested to increase their interest in labour inspection and that headquarters and provincial officers plan to increase evaluation and monitoring visits to local inspection stations. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide full information on these measures and indicate in particular their impact on the improvement of the conditions of work of labour inspectors operating in the agricultural sector and on their effectiveness in relation to Article 21 of the Convention, under the terms of which agricultural enterprises shall be inspected as often and as thoroughly as is necessary to ensure the effective application of the relevant legal provisions.

4. Labour inspection in agriculture and child labour. The Committee notes from the report of the Department of Labour for 1999 that financial difficulties appear to have temporarily prevented action by the Child Labour Unit of the Department of Labour, as well as by the labour inspectorate in this respect. It, however notes from the same report the efforts made to formulate a national policy on child labour, awareness-raising campaigns through the media, relations with the institutions concerned and the active involvement of the Child Labour Unit in a number of significant activities, such as the preparation of the third African Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect (Nairobi) and the preparation of district plans of action for the year 2000. Also noting that the above Unit maintains relations with university researchers in the field of child labour, the Committee hopes that these efforts will result in the near future in a significant improvement of the situation of child victims of the economic situation, and in a progressive reduction of the phenomenon of child labour leading to its eradication, particularly in the agricultural sector, with the participation of the inspection services. With reference to its general observation of 1999, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the practical measures taken with a view to providing labour inspectors with the means necessary to participate, in accordance with Article 3, paragraph 1(b), of the Convention, in the development of appropriate legislation in this field and effectively supervise the application of the relevant legal provisions which are in force.

5. Labour inspection and the amendment of legislation with a view to poverty reduction. The Committee notes, from a report of the ILO Area Office in Dar-es Salaam, received in November 2000, that a paper concerning the identification and prioritization of laws for review for the purpose of the reduction of poverty was submitted by the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development at a workshop held in Mombasa in October 2000, and that funds for labour law reform have been granted by UNDP, with ILO support, with a view to financing legislative reform in the fields of formal and informal labour, micro enterprises and employment creation. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would indicate the role played by inspection services and provide information on the development of this activity.