Some basic rights of all African workers

Companies are required to have employment contracts with employees that address issues such as minimum wage, hours worked, overtime pay, work conditions, time off, and termination procedures.

Employees are permitted to join labor unions and cannot be fired for this. Arbitration procedures are set forth in these contracts or they are then they are arbitrated by the named third party and when those negotiations fail is when it completed can be submitted to the department of ministry for labor and if those fail to bring resolve then the issue can be filed in can in court. When the court just trying the case the employer has the responsibility of producing a workers contract. If a contract cannot be produced all advantages given to the employee who needs only verbally support allegations and perhaps provide witnesses to support allegations which will stand as superior to any verbal claims by the employer as a penalty for not having a employees contract. some cases are tried by the international labour tower not international but the corps of international labor law in Kenya who whose decisions are unenforceable. Enforcement of compliance to labor laws lies at the responsibility of;

International workers rights initiatives and local labor laws are largely ignored by the majority of employers in East Africa. While worker grievances are accepted by government agencies, And courts are in place to judicate such matters, the fact remains that East African workers or subject to economic violence by corporations Without being subject to law enforcement. some of the injustices that workers must endure include:

• Lack of employment contracts as required by law for any and all employee/ employer relationships.
• Salary determinations made after employment has already begun.
• No overtime pay
• Unstated pay periods which can be irregular or span months before the worker gets paid
• Employers failure to pay employees at all even after months of labor has been performed. (Something of which nearly every worker has experienced at least once.)
• Work hour requirements that include 12+ hour workdays with no days off.
• No health benefits.
• No vacation days or paid sick days.
• Violations of termination laws


Jobs are difficult to acquire in East Africa where the majority of college degree holders are currently out of work. Most employers exploit this fact an wage economic violence against their workers who endure it because they are grateful to even have a job and are fearful of losing it.

The immoral conduct by employers in East Africa has been occurring on a large scale and for so long that it has become the standard. Employees have grown to accept the conditions and treatment as the norm and most are unaware even of the injustices being waged against them.

American citizens institute is appalled by these standards and is disappointed in the progress the international community has made toward correcting the issue, despite the vast amount of funding spent for such purpose. The United States government along with other world powers do have the vested authority to force East African companies who operate under trade agreements with the United States, to comply with existing international and local laws by having compliance to labour laws written into trade agreements with East African companies and governments. Again, little is being done to improve conditions for the millions of workers in East Africa who already suffer from extremely low wages. An East African worker can expect a salary equal to about 1% of the wage paid for the same job in America at a time when East African cost of living is only slightly below that in America. an analogy would be hey Corpus Christi TX worker earning $3 a day and having to pay housing food transportation etc that is no different than the current prices or just slightly below those in Corpus Christi, TX.

American citizens institute wants to help correct the issue Through the following measures:
• Gathering data and reporting violation data to East African media and governments.
• Educating the East African workers on the standards used throughout the rest of the world and ways that their vote could bring about change.
• building new activity and enthusiasm with an existing labour groups to increase membership recruitment efforts.
• Using American Citizens Institute’s unique technological ability and existing software means to communicate with every mobile device in East Africa to incite interest, awareness, education, accountability, guided action, and advice for movements and organizations in efforts to call to answer violators and bureaucratic principles with a history of suppressing rights of workers.
• Performance evaluation and tracking for existing labour groups and labour law advocacy organisations in East Africa and reporting that data.
• Interviewing researching and investigating relevant public officials for their history of advancing or suppressing worker’s rights and reporting that information to all E Africans prior to upcoming elections.
• Establishing new organizations to partner with East African governments in an effort to establish new policies and methods to track and report government organisations that have been entrusted by the people the power and authority to enforce labour law violations and hold violating companies accountable.

The international labour organisation has established A set of fundamental rights and protections for workers around the world. Most African countries have adopted these principles through legislation that includes these standards into their body of laws and in their constitution.