Economy

Firms say suppliers flouting 40pc local-buy directive

mutahi

Kenya Association of Manufacturers chairperson Flora Mutahi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Crafty domestic suppliers have frustrated the June 2015 presidential directive to State organs to outsource at least 40 per cent of products locally, manufacturers said on Wednesday.

The suppliers present samples of local products during the tendering, Kenya Association of Manufacturers chairperson Flora Mutahi said in Nairobi, only to jump onto a plane to India and China to source the same materials when they land fat State deals.

Ms Mutahi, who fell short of blaming State entities for colluding with the suppliers, said only about 11 per cent of government supplies as at June were are from local firms.

“What is missing is that when you supply the government saying that it is local, can you then get the local manufacturer to sign off. These are little things that need to be tidied up, but the initiative is definitely still there,” she said.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on June 1, 2015 during Madaraka Day celebrations directed ministries, departments and agencies to ensure that at least 40 per cent of government supplies are sourced from domestic firms.

READ: Local suppliers eye Sh60bn tenders as Uhuru flags off SGR

The order, under the “Buy Kenya, Build Kenya” initiative was stressed by the Treasury secretary in his 2015/16 Budget Statement directing immediate compliance from July 2015.

China overtook India as Kenya’s largest source of imports in 2015 when it landed the Standard Gauge Railway contract, and the two Asian countries have remained the top origin of imports to Kenya on annual basis.

Latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows value of imports from China between January and August rose to Sh273.03 billion from Sh218.93 billion a year earlier, while India’s slumped to Sh117.05 billion from Sh140.70 billion.