Counties are in business. Or correctly put, many county governments have big, often unrealistic ambitions in the world of enterprise.
Whether it is investing in a fish processing plant as the Nyeri government did or in a 200 room hotel as Meru did, the spending of millions of shillings on such ventures has become a cause for alarm.
Not because there is anything wrong with harbouring such ambitions, but because of the pilferage and wastage that comes with it.
A number of such projects are already facing trouble. Take the case of Nyeri’s Sh60 million fish processing factory that is now idle for lack of raw material.
Word is that the factory currently receives only four fish a day – making nonsense of the objective of processing for export.
In Meru, Governor Kiraitu Murungi has signalled that the controversial Meru County Hotel established by his predecessor, Peter Munya, will be converted into county government offices.
Other county governments mulling such plans must stop to seriously think about them.
Government participation in business remains a big challenge worldwide and counties should instead strongly consider sticking to their core mandate of providing an enabling environment for commerce.
It cannot be denied that the success of any business venture lies in sound management. Unfortunately, this is a weak point for governments because of poor corporate governance standards.
Many a time, government projects are placed in the hands of political cronies with little or no business acumen. This precipitates failure of such ventures because it limits accountability among those tasked with managing them.
Counties should also be alive to the fact that the business chain goes beyond just production, which comes with huge and complex cost implications. We should not gamble with taxpayer funds by letting county governments take up projects, whose future is uncertain.
Parliament and the National Treasury must raise the bar in oversighting any counties going into business.
Such capital expenditure projects must only be approved upon provision of comprehensive feasibility study reports. County officers should be held accountable for decisions made to avoid scenarios where funds are wasted on non-viable projects.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
