The 4th Kenya Social Protection Conference, 2026

REMARKS BY BRO ADAMS BARASA, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL ADMINISTRATION COTU(K) ON BEHALF OF DR. FRANCIS ATWOLI, NOM (DZA), CBS, EBS, MBS SECRETARY GENERAL COTU (K) DURING THE 4TH SOCIAL PROTECTION CONFERENCE KENYA SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT

THEME: RE-IMAGINING SOCIAL PROTECTION IN AN EVOLVING SOCIO-ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE CHANGE. ON29TH SEPTEMBER, 2026

Salutations

Your Excellency, The President of the Republic of Kenya and Commander in Chief of the Defense Forces; Dr. William Samoei Ruto, C.G.HYour Excellency, the Deputy President Prof. Kithure Kindiki, EGHHon. Dr. Alfred Mutua, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Social Protection; and other Cabinet Secretaries PresentPrincipal Secretaries presentOur distinguished Governors, Senators, MPs, Women Representatives, and MCAs present,Director General of the Kenya School of Government Distinguished Guests,Brothers and Sisters,

Your Excellency, on behalf of the Kenyan workers as represented by COTU (K), it gives me great pleasure to join you during this 4th Social Protection Conference under the theme “Re-imagining Social Protection in an Evolving Socio-Economic Landscape and Climate Change,”. Let me thank you,

Your Excellency, on behalf of all Kenyans for placing social protection at the centre of your Government’s development agenda since you assumed office in 2022. One of the most significant has been the implementation of the National Social Security Fund Act, 2013, which has enhanced NSSF performance and strengthened retirement savings for Kenyan workers.

As COTU (K), Your Excellency, we shall continue supporting these reforms by your government and which are aimed at ensuring that every Kenyan worker is protected against the risks that arise throughout his/her life cycle. At the international level, Your Excellency, social protection is firmly established through the ILO Convention No. 102 on Social Security (Minimum Standards) which establishes internationally agreed minimum standards across the nine principal branches of social security, including medical care, sickness, unemployment, old age, employment injury, family, maternity, invalidity and survivors’ benefits.

Equally, and as a long-serving ILO Governing Body Member Your Excellency I must remind all that this framework is complemented by the ILO’s Recommendation No. 202 on Social Protection Floors which calls upon countries to establish nationally defined social protection floors guaranteeing, at a minimum, access to essential healthcare and basic income security across the life cycle.

Your Excellency, our own Constitution is equally clear under Article 43(1)(e) of the Constitution of Kenya which guarantees every person the right to social security, while Article 43(3) places an obligation upon the State to provide appropriate social security to persons who are unable to support themselves and their dependants.It is in this regard that COTU (K) commends the Government for strengthening the country’s policy and legislative architecture on social protection and particularly the enactment of the Social Protection Act, 2025. The Act has provided a statutory framework for the administration of non-contributory social protection interventions and established the National Board for Social Protection.

However, Your Excellency, as COTU (K) we like to call upon all gathered here today to interrogate the changes in our economy as a result of e-commerce, platform economy and the ballooning informal sector. These changes have clearly demonstrated to us that there is need for our social protection systems to become flexible enough to accommodate irregular incomes and different forms of employment.

As COTU (K), Your Excellency, we remain ready and available to provide our input and guidance on how to improve our social protection systems to ensure that we protect all Kenyan workers against major life-cycle risks and shocks. At the same time, we shall continue playing our oversight role in ensuring that every shilling belonging to workers and every shilling earmarked for social protection is used for its intended purpose.

COTU (K) as represented on the newly established National Board for Social Protection shall ensure that this Board’s priorities include a guarantee that social protection resources reach the Kenyans for whom they are intended.

I thank You!