The decision by the
Transport ministry to buy high-capacity rapid transit buses locally,
rather than import them from South Africa, comes as a thumbs up to
renewed efforts to revive Kenya’s industrial engine.
In
one fell swoop, what would have been a more than Sh500 million import
bill that would have depleted the country’s forex reserves is set to
become a guaranteed revenue stream for the local vehicle assemblers with
a promising multiplier economic effect.
That marks a bigger official step in making the Buy-Kenya Build-Kenya mantra a reality.
And
for the average citizen already saddled with all manner of taxes,
nothing can be as uplifting as seeing part of the government’s money
going into projects that raise the private sector’s capacity to generate
revenue and hire more Kenyans.
We can only hope that the local private sector takes this
challenge very seriously by boosting its capacity to deliver
high-quality vehicles at competitive prices.
The
difference between importing and buying locally must translate into
significant savings. We applaud the decision by Transport secretary
James Macharia to reverse an earlier decision and order the
high-capacity vehicles. What a contradiction it would have been had we
insisted on importing the very Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) vehicles that our
neighbour, Tanzania, is ordering from Kenya?
This
current about-turn does not, however, take away pertinent questions
that have arisen in the past 30 days that the Transport ministry
officials have been flip-flopping over this deal.
The
ministry had initially indicated that the consignment of BRT vehicles
from South Africa would arrive into the country by next week.
That
raises fears that a purchase order may have been issued, and some
commitment put in place. Mr Macharia maintains that Kenya never signed a
contract with South Africans, but that remains just his word.
Most
of the firms involved in the international trade are always able to
anticipate such risks and take precautions well ahead of time.
The ministry should therefore tell Kenyans the extent of our exposure, and who takes responsibility in that case.
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