A backlash against privatisation is underway because the government is planning to sell off 15 parastatals including KICC and the Kenya National Oil Company.
They are perceived as precious national assets that should not be sold off under pressure from foreign institutions like the IMF. People forget that another great Kenyan institution, Safaricom, is primarily a private company listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. Private companies can still be proudly Kenyan.
However government should not sell monopolies because the temptation for new owners to make excessive windfall profits will be too great.
KPLC and Kenya Pipeline Company are virtual monopolies. They should not be sold off, or at least should remain under heavy regulation.
But KICC and KNOC are not monopolies. Plenty of office blocks and private fuel stations are in competition with them. Why subsidise them? Sell them off!
Similarly there is no need for government to keep Kenya Seed Company or New KCC which farmers are now agitating about. The private sector is already operating effectively in that space. If the farmers want to take them over again, they can – so long as they do not expect future handouts from government.
Quote of the day: "Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think."
Werner Heisenberg
The German physicist was born on December 5, 1901
