While the seven labour laws of 2007 and the Employment and Labour Relations Court provide for both legal and institutional frameworks for protection of workers, there are far too many cases of employers trampling on employees’ rights, begging the question whether more stringent regulations need to come into force.
Take the case of Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), an American private equity firm that bought a local construction and infrastructure champion, Spencon with the stated aim of expanding it beyond its already impressive regional footprint.
The saga which was covered in an hour long documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), shows a cavalier cowboy approach to workers’ rights which culminated in ECP selling off Spencon assets, paying their expatriate employees huge emoluments and taking off in the middle of the night, leaving hundreds of Kenyan workers stranded with no pay, and no future.
Moreover, it is not the first time ECP and other foreign private equity firms have been accused of such tactics where they swoop in, mine all value and leave empty shells and out of work employees.
The Finance Bill 2020 that is before parliament, suggests a semblance of regulation for private equity and venture capital firms, where they take in public funds such as from pension schemes.
