One of the unique selling points for early colonial settlers in Kenya was the availability of cheap labour to work on their farms and other businesses.
However, they soon realised that for their ventures to be sustainable, they needed to control the labour supply side of the equation.
The idea of an identification document for male Africans was mooted in 1915 by the colonial administration. It consisted of a small red book held in a metallic container which was hung round the neck with a length of string or leather.
It looked very much like a traditional cow bell. The book held all the personal details of the wearer and his employment records including wages earned. Because it was only meant for Africans, it was given the Kiswahili name kipande.
Implementation of the kipande law was interrupted by World War I and it was not until 1919 that it was put in force. The kipande was a means of keeping track of labour movement and enforce labour contracts by employers. The law provided stiff penalties and even jail for Africans found without a kipande.
If for instance an employee absconded from duty it was easy for government agents to return him to work as all the details would be available on the kipande.
It also made it impossible for the illiterate African to negotiate for better pay because a prospective employer could read his worth on the red book, which made it easy for the administration to standardise wages.
The kipande also contained details of the wearer’s tribe and this allowed white employers to ensure that employees of different tribes did not mix, creating distrust amongst them by way of ethnic profiling.
The settlers formented ethnic hatred by playing different communities against each other in a divide and rule policy. They were socialised to believe that certain communities were dangerous enemies.
State of Emergency
To the African, the dreaded kipande was a demeaning and oppressive symbol of servitude. The colonial government crushed dissent from Africans ruthlessly.
It was not until 1947 that the kipande was abolished only to resurface shortly thereafter in 1952 for the Mount Kenya region, during the State of Emergency.
The central office for issuance of the kipande was located in what is today known as Kipande House situated at the corner of Loita Street and Kenyatta Avenue. Built in 1913 by a wealthy Indian businessman, Gurdit Singh Nayer, it was known as “Nayer Building”.
The old Uganda Railway line passed parallel to Loita Street and during World War I, the colonial government leased the building for use as a warehouse.
As his contribution to the war effort, Mr Nayer waived payment of any rent during the war years. After the end of the war in 1919, the building reverted to normal office use.
The building was purchased in 1976 by the Kenya Commercial Bank in a rare sale of a property with historical value in Kenya. It had by that time been gazetted as a national monument.
The building is one of the oldest standing structures in Nairobi, featuring smooth dressed blue stone walls with ornate arches to the front façade, an unusual storied tower with majestic lion statues on either side and topped with a dome etched with a rising sun emblem on two sides.
The roof is covered in heavy gauge iron sheets while windows are glazed in fixed steel casements to the tower area.
The interior of the building received a complete design makeover in 2003 by Triad Architects.
Kipande House may be dwarfed by modern skyscrapers but it still retains an imposing presence and an aura of authority. Does it hold an uncanny reminder about our past as a nation?
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