Editorials

EDITORIAL: Move to buy rapid transit buses locally the way to go

macharia

Transport secretary James Macharia. FILE PHOTO | NMG

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?

READ: Boost for Kenya bus firms as Macharia shelves SA imports

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.