There are a number of parastatals with duplicate mandates and, for this reason, they pursue the same objective.

This is not what parastatals were supposed to do.

A presidential task force also produced a comprehensive report on state-owned enterprises, which was not implemented.

The Parastatal Reform Report analyzed the role, structure and performance of parastatals in Kenya, with the sole aim of making appropriate recommendations for reforms.

The report presents a series of reform recommendations that must gather dust on the government’s shelves.

I think it is time for the government to be bold enough to merge these parastatal companies and eliminate those that are in difficulty.

For example, in the last budget, there were a few parastatals which were in difficulty and which did not receive any budget, except for salaries.

In fact, people woke up in the morning to go to the office and collect their salaries at taxpayers’ expense.

They cannot take any training, they cannot carry out any activity outside the office, but they receive salaries and allowances.

Parastatals were not meant to be platforms where people received salaries. They aimed to promote indigenous entrepreneurship, increase citizen participation in the economy and accelerate economic and social development.

The entities were also supposed to correct regional economic imbalances as well as promote foreign investment.

This has not happened in most agencies, hence the need to critically examine their relevance.

For those who are really struggling, the government must be bold and streamline them and focus only on those who are making profits and taking care of their bills without support from the Treasury.

The staff of these parastatals should be transferred to their home ministries, so that they can offer services and justify their salaries, or to parastatals that are understaffed.

Parastatals cannot be used as platforms to collect salaries that are worthless to Kenyans. The sooner this is achieved, the better it will be for our economy.

Uriri MP spoke to the Star