Annotated excerpt from Makhan Singh's History of Kenya's Trade Union Movement to 1952, describing Jomo Kenyatta's comments on the kipande pass system and strike action shortly after he was elected leader of the Kenya African Union (KAU).

cross-posted from: https://baraza.africa/post/22603

While Makhan Singh does not state it explicitly (possibly due to writing the history in post-colonial Kenya under Jomo Kenyatta’s presidency in 1969, and in the midst of political assassinations of Kenyatta’s left wing opponents) he makes clear that the demand of the KAU for complete abolition of the pass system was significantly watered down by Kenyatta, who was happy to accept a formally non-racial pass system in its place.