Miguna Schools Ichung'wah Over Sale Of KICC & 10 Other Parastatals

Outspoken lawyer, Miguna Miguna on Thursday, November 30 tore into National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah regarding the government's plan to put up 11 parastatals for sale, including the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).

Ichung'wah, while speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, criticised Kenyans complaining regarding the incoming sale of KICC, terming their sentiments as ignorant.

According to the Kikuyu MP, members of the public should have read the Privatisation Act passed by Parliament and assented into law by President William Ruto, which would provide a roadmap of how Kenya would attract private investors going forward as a means of reaping revenue for the sake of the country.

“I have heard many people speaking on how the government is selling off assets. Ignorantly, people are not looking at the Privatisation Act which we passed here as the Privatisation Bill three or four months ago and that Act makes it very clear how the government will divest from investments it had made in the past, whether it is through an initial public offering, getting into joint ventures with strategic investors,” Ichung'wah lamented.

The lawmaker went on to state that KICC sits on a prime location in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) and can generate more money if it was leased to a chain of hotels that could run the building and convert it into a hotel.

"90 per cent of tenancy at KICC is parliament which is paying peanuts because it is government to government, but this is a prime location in the Central Business District. If KICC was for instance leased to a hotel chain that can convert the whole building into a hotel you can imagine the money the government will be able to generate," he opined.

Ichung'wah also believed that the news of the government's plans to sell the parastatals was ruined by propaganda from various quarters, and expressed worry regarding most Kenyans being vulnerable to being fed incorrect information as they were not well versed with the facts.

However, Miguna, in a statement on Thursday, told off Ichung'wah and explained to him why the government does not need to sell parastatals to make a profit, using a case study of world governments running facilities such as hotels and banks.

"Governments all over the world run profitable hotels, banks and other enterprises. Nothing stops the Government from leasing KICC space to private enterprises at a profit. However, ownership must remain public. You don’t have to sell parastatals to make them profitable.

"You have to hire competent and incorruptible managers to run them. The GoK sold KQ (Kenya Airways), Uchumi, KBS, etc. to oligarchs for a song, then continued to plunder them to bankruptcy," he cautioned.

According to Miguna, privatization only seeks to worsen the situation affecting the income generation of enterprises, noting that private companies in Kenya collapsed due to mismanagement, culminating in bankruptcy.

"It’s financially illiterate to argue that privatization makes anything profitable. Show us one profitable public enterprise you have privatized. Just one," Miguna dared Ichung'wah.

The lawyer went on to affirm that public government services all over the world including investment of retirement contributions, income tax, land registries, parking, recreation, registration of births and deaths, and highway as well as traffic divisions have had positive spells in terms of profit, compared to Kenya where the services are not profitable to the public but to public servants and politicians who loot them.

"Is the Kenya Kwanza government planning to privatize all public/government services, including their cash cows? The solution is not to privatize. It’s to stop corruption, nepotism, tribalism, cronyism and incompetence in public service!" Miguna recommended.

KICC was one of 11 parastatals lined up for sale by the government, with it and the Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB) to be incorporated into a limited company.

The country's National Treasury unveiled its new privatisation programme that will see the likes of New Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC), National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Kenya Seed Company Ltd be put up for sale.

Read also: KICC & 10 Other Parastatals Govt Has Put Up For Sale

Oil tanks at Kenya Pipeline Company headquarters. /THE STAR