The Senate and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) are set to open their first Speaker’s Roundtable of the 12th Parliament in Ukunda, Kwale County, with the Big Four agenda and the role of counties in its implementation at the centre of the talks.
The discussions will take place at Leisure Lodge Beach Resort and are part of Kepsa’s annual engagement with Parliament, which the lobby uses to press for policies that support business growth.
Kepsa chief executive Carole Kariuki said devolution had made counties the most important administrative units for business. She added that the Senate has a key role in helping counties become “the frontiers of economic development and progress.”
“We can count many achievements from the time we began these engagements with the Senate, chief of which is that we have a clear understanding of the way our institutions work.”
The Senate’s first Speaker’s Roundtable was held in October 2013, establishing a forum where Kepsa and lawmakers have since discussed devolution, ease of doing business and the need for a supportive legislative environment. The National Assembly held a similar meeting a month ago.
Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka said the inaugural meeting showed the importance of the relationship between Kepsa and the House. He said the roundtable offers a chance to review progress under the 11th Parliament and push faster toward sustainable development.
Mr Lusaka said three of the Big Four priorities fall mainly under devolved functions, making Senate involvement important in building the public-private partnerships needed to deliver them. He also said the private sector remains central to long-term economic growth.
“We are alive to the benefits that foreign direct investments have on our economy but remain committed to seeing our private sector flourish, creating employment, improving quality and lowering the cost of goods and services, and providing a reliable income stream for the government through taxes,” he said.
Kepsa has been pushing for lower business costs across counties and says progress depends on cheaper land for investors, better infrastructure, simpler property registration, faster transfer and acquisition processes, easier construction approvals, support for local building technologies and lower construction material costs.
The roundtable comes as Kenyans debate sustainable economic growth, revenue generation, debt management, taxation and governance. Kepsa says it wants a coordination mechanism between the legislature and the private sector to identify quick wins for the president’s agenda.
