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PRIVATE ECONOMIC SECTORS (NAKURU COUNTY CHAPTERS)

Kenya promulgated a new constitution in the year 2010. In our new constitution, the country is governed at two levels: this is at the national level and the county level. We do have 47 counties and in each county there is an executive arm of government led by the governor and the legislative arm of government led by the county speaker. Keeping this in mind, devolution as captured in our constitution provides opportunities for private economic sector in our devolved governments. Furthermore, devolution promises service delivery closer to the people and private economic sector expects to benefit from this and to thrive

As counties try to find their feet in these early stages of devolution, there is need for the businesses to establish ways to engage county officials to solve issues that affect the business environment, productivity and competitiveness. So far, very few county governments have had meetings with representatives of the private economic sector with the exception of a few governors, while in some counties, the county cabinets are not in place.

Economic development is not possible without the private sector. Businesses are the main actors in mobilizing and distributing wealth and resources in the county. They generate income for the public by paying rates and taxes and creating jobs for the unemployed. They are also magnets for investment. No investor pours money into a new venture without first talking to existing investors.

As the main consumers of services provided by the public sector, the private sector is also very keen on good service delivery. Research has also shown that devolution is not a panacea to better service delivery which has been known to deteriorate in certain instances where devolution has been adopted. This means that the business sector still needs to engage the county for better business conditions and county governments in turn need to be attentive to the private sector.

However, it is imperative for the private sector to speak with a unified voice in order to be heard. Business membership Organization (BMOs) is the vehicles for strategic advocacy. But while many businesses belong to a business organization, this may not necessarily guarantee that their issues will be attended to because the effectiveness depends largely on the actions of leaders of such organizations.

Business associations are relevant to county governments because they keep an ear on the ground and bring in an authentic perspective of what it means to run a business in a given environment. They also play a watchdog role of identifying laws and regulations that hinder business and they make specific recommendations on alternative options. They educate the public on issues that affect them, so that business is not short changed. By putting issues on the public radar, they can get government to rethink positions and find better solutions to problems. Coalitions of such organizations can be even more powerful to set the ball rolling.

Since it is the role of any elected government official to get himself re-elected by growing the economy and creating jobs, it is important that business associations understand the role of each official in the county government before approaching them and presenting their agenda. Both the senator and the governor are elected officials and should be open to dialogue on economic growth in the county. The speaker as the chair of the county assembly is a key player if the business sector wants to advocate for amendments and creation of county laws. Inasmuch as the speaker in non-partisan, he or she also guides the members of the county assembly on legislation.

Business organizations can measure their success in their policy advocacy work if they are the ‘go to’ source information on any public policy issue. There is great need for research in order for counties to become think tanks. A key failure of many business membership organizations in Kenya is the failure to carry out research into issues that they want dealt with. As John Adams once said, “facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

Successful engagements will encourage entrepreneurship in the counties because it will pay to do business and young people will be drawn to starting their own businesses. This will help counties create jobs. If democracy is inclusion and representative government, then county governments cannot afford to ignore private economic sector business organizations.

Challenges

The private economic sector in Nakuru county are facing some challenges because the county governments are still new and therefore some of the consultative structures have not been formed at the county level.

Secondly, Nakuru county government have already developed a strategic development investment strategy of which all the stakeholders were not involved. The intended capacity building forum will enable the public economic sector and county government officials to share their plans and enable input fro the private sector.

In this regard, the public economic sector is best placed to assist counties market their strategies, attract more investors and research into important export opportunities available to its members. We do know that most counties have already done their county budgets of which there were no consultations with the private economic sector. The training is intended to avail an opportunity to the financial experts to explain to the private sector the impact of the budget to their businesses.