NAIROBI: President Uhuru Kenyatta’s directive in March to procurement officers in ministries and State departments to purchase locally manufactured products will have a major positive impact on local industries.
This is especially if Kenya Power’s decision to encourage local manufacturers to participate in the supply of materials for the implementation of the multi-billion shilling Last Mile Connectivity Project is anything to go by.
Kenya Power Managing Director Dr Ben Chumo, deserves commendation for taking up the President’s call and assuring the existing and potential investors in the sector that they have a market for their products.
Obviously, local products must meet internationally accepted quality standards because the sector is highly sensitive and use of substandard products could lead to loss of lives and property. But this need not be difficult because technology and ease in air travel has made the world into a global village and skills can be easily transferred from one part of the world to another at the right price.
A look at the size of pie to be shared out is so huge and the benefits to the larger economy so large that, perhaps, the Government may be persuaded to take a direct interest in growing local industries.
Chumo’s revelation that the company spends close to 80 per cent of its annual procurement budget, which amounted to Sh6.2 billion last year, on materials sourced overseas mainly from India and China should be an eye-opener that stirs the Government to play a more pro-active role in putting money where its mouth is.
