Reversing exclusion: The Africanisation of accountancy in Kenya, 1963–1970

Abstract

Accountancy in colonial Kenya was the domain of expatriate British accountants to the virtual exclusion of African Kenyans and marginalisation of Asians. When political independence from the British was achieved in 1963, the new Government initiated programmes of affirmative action and social reform aimed at engendering improved opportunities for the previously disenfranchised indigenous African Kenyans. This study sets out to examine how changes in political ideology at the national level can induce critical change in the organisation and constitution of the accountancy profession. It investigates the pivotal role of the Government in reversing exclusionary closure in the accountancy profession and facilitating the entry of Africans through the introduction of new accountancy education and training programmes. Such affirmative action programmes were instituted as restitution for the injustices suffered by Africans under colonialism and in anticipation of the labour shortages in the wake of departing expatriates post-independence. The evidence presented draws attention to the consequences of such affirmative action programmes and demonstrates that although the growing participation of Africans in the profession between 1963 and 1970 indicates success in reversing exclusion, their acceptance and integration remained more distant objectives.