sector and later ballooned into this monster we now call corruption.
And corruption is now holding hostage every sector of this economy thus strangling enterprise development. For example, our weigh bridges are nothing but corruption toll stations. Traffic police report to collect their dues and not manage traffic. Importing which should be a straight forward affair is encumbered in untold bureaucracy and punitive levies. Even in the private sector closing a deal purely on merit and value proposition has become wishful thinking.
It doesn’ t help that we inherited laws and policies that favored established businesses against indigenous upcoming enterprises. You had to sell your milk through authorized cooperatives and buy any merchandise through authorized dealers. Uganda, I’ m told has found a way to shorten this chain and make it easier for small timers to get products without the attendant burden.
We have another yearly ritual called the budget which comes with hidden levies and taxes. This has made our operating environment very unpredictable making compliance a living nightmare.
And should you have any business disputes, don’ t dare our courts. Justice is a stranger in those corridors. I have been bumped enough times in business but chose to swallow my loss instead of adding more pain by going through the courts. The cases backlog alone is enough to defeat any expectation of fair play.
In the retail space, our shelves are increasingly being swallowed by foreign products and more worrying, from neighboring states. It shouldn’ t escape any casual observer that milk, eggs, rice among other cereals are mostly imported from Uganda and Tanzania a clear indicator that we are fast losing ground.
Our government seems not to understand that you can only milk a cow that you have nurtured to growth. President Kibaki made it easy for the likes of M-Pesa, Equity, Family Bank and numerous FM and TV stations to be licensed and supported to operate and these later became his cash cows.
On the side of inputs, land in Kenya is used more for speculation than production. Why not have policies that disallow land subdivision especially agricultural land while at the same time levy punitive taxes on those holding onto idle land. Again, how can we claim to be enabling entrepreneurship while things like power, a primary input is both expensive and unreliable?
Sometimes I ask myself why we don’ t have a thriving cottage industry like in India? Try baking, packaging and selling your own bread. Try packing and selling peanut or milking your cow, processing and packing milk. The authorities will descend on you like one who has killed someone demanding a thousand and one approvals.
Besides, no one would strive to build a decent enterprise with all the pain and hustles when their counterparts zoom past them in life through government tenders. We all love easy life and few people will persevere to create and sell value when everyone is playing poker with the government. Wealth should follow productivity not politics.
In my opinion, a robust private sector free of government interference is enough to transform this economy and should be enabled with appropriate laws and policies. A simple act like removing VAT on digital devices ushered in our digital revolution and removing taxes on motorbikes gave us the Boda Boda Industry. We can do more like promptly paying private sector debts and getting out of business to allow private sector not public sector to power our growth.
On the positive side, roads and railways are being done. Last mile is opening up the country and advancing digital revolution powered by satellites a boon to new opportunities in far flung rural homes. If we clean our politics, we shall get there faster. God speed.
Evans Majeni is a seasoned business man with a rich experience in the entrepreneurial terrains. You can commune with him via mail at: Majeni. tahidi @ gmail. com.