NARC AGENDA/ MWAI KIBAKI 

The resilience of ordinary Kenyans continues to amaze and inspire me. The stagnation of our economy in recent years has forced Kenyans to lead more challenging lives. All the same, faced with these difficulties our citizens have remained sane and law-abiding. In many other countries, the hardships brought on our people by Kanu’s gross mismanagement of the economy would have led to disintegration. 

Kenya owes its survival to ordinary Kenyans, our manufacturers, farmers, the poor and the hungry, who have held this country together. Narc parliamentary candidates have come together to work with our people – investors, farmers, consumers, the poor and marginalised – to halt our nation’s economic decline and to start to rebuild our country.

I assure you that all activities carried out by my government will be executed within an institutional framework. Our leaders will be bound by a code of ethics that will be strictly applied. 

When elected on December 27, my government will immediate pursue policies in the following key areas:

Every investor, local or foreign, considers security of life and property when deciding where to invest. Where this cannot be guaranteed, no reasonable investor will invest. 

Flagrant abuse and corruption by Kenya’s agents of law and order has wiped out public confidence in our legal institutions and our law enforcement agencies. Thugs and vagabonds move around with police escorts while innocent, law-abiding Kenyans are unprotected.

The glaring incompetence of the police force has led to the proliferation of alternative forces (private security firms and vigilante groups), which have now assumed responsibility for maintaining law and order. Today, most investors employ 24-hour guards, which adds significantly to the cost of services. Middle income Kenyans live in protected houses, like those reserved for violent criminals. No country can hope to attract investment under these conditions. 

Security of life and property will be a priority for a Narc government. We will give law enforcement agents the tools to do the job. Our government is committed to creating a competent police force free from political interference and capable of protecting and serving all Kenyans. 

My government will also seek to enhance security at our borders. I want to eliminate the special privileges granted to well-connected individuals. These give people the opportunity to bring all manner of goods into our country, and pose a major threat to our security.

Given the escalating problem of international terrorism, security will be given uncompromising attention by my Government. The recent terrorist attack in Mombasa reinforces the need to secure our borders.

The public sector is synonymous with corruption and inefficiency. It is generally believed that civil servants are perpetually involved in creative schemes to exort money from the public. 

For many years, senior civil service appointments have not been made on the basis of merit or ability to deliver services. As a result, professionalism in the public sector has been substantially eroded. Many professionals are under-utilised and intimidated to the extent that they no longer give independent advice for fear of victimisation.

A Narc government will restore both financial and professional discipline to the public sector, particularly with regard to procurement. Every public officer will be made accountable and obliged to operate as an impartial umpire, not as a guardian of vested interests. Under my Government there will be no room in public service for extending favours to politically connected businesses or other private interests. All political leaders and public servants will be required to adhere to a strict a code of conduct which will be enforced rigorously.

The Kanu government has dramatically increased public borrowing in recent years, crowding out the private sector from capital markets. During the fiscal year 2001/02, credit to the government grew by 20.3 per cent, while credit to business shrank by 6 per cent. This explains why the economy grew at a mere 1.2 per cent of the GDP in 2001. 

A large proportion of the money borrowed by the government is still tied up in incomplete projects awarded to businesses connected to Kanu. It is impossible to grow the economy in this environment, as business is starved of investment and working capital.

Within the first six months of assuming office, a Narc government will seek to reduce domestic borrowing so as to halt the current economic decline and set the stage for renewed growth. We will seek the support of our development partners in formulating and implementing this programme. We shall reduce domestic debt on a sustainable basis and restructure the current stock of public debt to reduce its negative impact on public expenditure.

During the last twelve years, the Kenyan Government has reneged on all its commitments to our development partners and the International Monetary Fund. This has damaged investor confidence and limited donor funding to Kenya.

A Narc government will ensure full compliance with all commitments given to our development partners. If we cannot implement any conditionality attached to a funding proposal, then we will draw this to their attention well in advance. I know that our development partners are particularly concerned about corruption and misuse of public funds, whether these are locally generated funds or funds provided by donors. A Narc government will institute measures to ensure transparency and accountability in the public sector, so that the allocation of public funds is properly monitored and assessed.

Local producers have been subjected to unreasonable competition from untaxed imports. The custom of waiving taxes and duties for friends of Kanu has been particularly damaging for Kenya's sugar, textiles, cereals and milk producers. My government will remove all discretionary powers which have led to this abuse.

Where exemptions are granted, the government will declare this publicly. As a matter of principle, incentives will be industry-wide or sector-based, and not granted to individual firms. Tax policies under a Narc government will be fully transparent and subject to public scrutiny.

A NARC Government wants to make the capital markets an efficient mechanism for mobilizing resources for investment. My Government will adopt measures to help genuine investors raise funds through the market. We will require Kenya’s financial regulators to prepare transparent rules and regulations regarding financial instruments, so that investors can make informed decisions. In addition, a NARC government will require financial regulators to enforce corporate governance without fear or favour.

The Kenyan economy is dominated by the agricultural sector. This sector contributes more than 25 per cent of GDP, employs over 75 per cent of the Kenyan labour force and contributes about 40 per cent of Kenya’s export earnings. It is a major source of raw materials for most of our industries.

A NARC Government will give the agricultural sector the priority it deserves. NARC will consult with stakeholders and development partners on a fast track programme to refinance agriculture through public / private sector partnerships. We shall work towards sharply raising public sector investments in the agriculture sector to halt deepening poverty. We cannot hope to significantly reduce poverty for as long as the agricultural sector remains under-funded. It doesn’t matter how many strategy papers are drawn up, we won’t lift Kenyans out of poverty without investment in our agricultural sector.

I strongly deplore the government’s practice of spending between Kshs.10 - 15 billion each year on famine relief, while continuing to invest too little in the agricultural sector. The government has used poverty reduction as a means to secure funding from our development partners, without introducing long-term measures to reduce poverty on the ground.

Over the last decade, Kenya has attracted no significant investments. There have been far too many policy pronouncements by the government, but little to show in terms of concrete measures to promote industry.

My Government will commit itself to liberalisation, because we believe it is in the best interests of consumers and investors. But we will be sensitive to local producers who provide jobs and incomes to large numbers of Kenyans. When we liberalise industries, we will in each case ask the following questions - how many jobs will this create; how will this help to diversify domestic production and develop new markets for local products? Initially, I would like to sustain jobs and incomes for our people, until the economy is able to generate alternative sources of employment, markets, and incomes. 

A NARC Government will identify key sectors with high potential for growth and strong linkages to other sectors, and then promote these. Textiles, for instance, has widespread linkages, including cotton growing, yarn production, cloth and apparel manufacturing, which are all labour intensive. As part of our industrial policy, NARC will ensure strict enforcement of standards and environmental protection.

Savings provide the fuel to finance investments which drive economic growth. The rate of domestic savings has fallen from 18.1 per cent GDP in 1994 to about 6.5 per cent in 2001. At such low rates of savings it is simply not possible to sustain the current stock of capital, let alone increasing it to raise output and incomes. As a ratio of GDP, investment rates have declined from 19.3 per cent in 1994 to 14.5 per cent by end of 2001, far below the 17 per cent average rate for Sub-Saharan Africa. It is no wonder Kenya has performed poorer than many other African countries.

My Government will take specific corrective measures to improve savings rates in Kenya.

To reduce wastage of public funds, my Government will evaluate public corporations and institutions, and eliminate those that are no longer needed or necessary. They will either be sold off or made self-financing. Ultimately, public enterprises will be required to generate net benefits to the economy, out of the funds allocated to them, or be eliminated.

I believe that the right to information is a fundamental human right. I deplore the current discriminatory practice of limiting electronic media licences to political supporters. It is improper and economically imprudent to deny Kenyans opportunities to access information simply because the ruling party cannot guarantee the allegiance of a service provider. Under my Government, media licences will be considered and awarded on the basis of merit and the applicant’s ability to render services to the public.

My Government shall also put in place a policy framework to improve the quality, access and cost of telecommunications technology in Kenya. An appropriate legal and regulatory framework will be developed to ensure Kenya has a system that improves both access and quality of telecommunications on a continuous basis. Kenya can no longer afford to subsidize inefficient monopolies which maintain high cost fixed line and internet services.

These are some of the policies my Government will pursue. With the support of all Kenyans and our development partners, we shall reverse years of embarrassing economic decline and make our great nation prosperous again.

Mr Kibaki is the National Rainbow Coalition presidential candidate

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