WHEN WILL THE GOVERNMENT REPOSSES THE ILLEGALLY PRIVATISED KENYA SEED COMPANY?

Lest we forget, a forensic report released by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) indicated that there were glaring breaches and irregularities characterizing the privatization of Kenya Seed Company (KSC). Moreover, the Kenya High Court ruled on 12th April 2005 that KSC had changed hands illegally. Why, then, is the repossession of KSC still shrouded in mystery? Little if anything is being done by the government and especially by the Ministry of Agriculture under whose docket this public facility lay to ensure that this extremely important asset reverts back to public ownership. It is unbelievable that the government can still drag its feet when credible information points to the fact that conniving individuals covertly diluted the government’s shareholding (run indirectly by Agricultural Development Corporation) from 53 percent to 40 percent. Worse still is the fact that the KSC board and management never consulted ADC in the privatization process. Legally, this means that the privatization was null and void. One should have expected the Kenya Government to be stirred into action once it got credible information. But contrary to our expectations, the government seems pretty relaxed on its laurels. To begin with, the share issue raised only a paltry Sh144.7 million rather than the Sh160 million as a result of an under subscription. This under subscription was occasioned by a deliberate lack of disclosure to both the government and the general public of the worth of the company at the time of its disposal, consequently, the then directors and politically well-connected individuals had a carte blanche to increase their shareholding and therefore acquire KSC at a throw away price given the fact that the share price valuation was seriously under valued. Speaking on the strength of the court ruling and the PwC report, the Agriculture minister William Ruto vowed late last year that this asset will be repossessed the soonest. However, there are no indications to date, that the much hyped repossession is about to take place. Nothing seems to be forthcoming and the “avuncular” Agriculture Minister has maintained a dead silence on the issue. I wish to remind the Minister that it is imperative that he, under whose docket this thieving took place, constantly informs the public of the progress that is so far being made in this front. It is instrumental to note that some of the key players behind this privatization are serving in the current government as legislators. Some of them were lawyers of the architects of this scam. Still, some of them later own served as members or directors of KSC. In fact one of these “smart” lawyers is not only holding huge shares in this facility through proxy but has also his eyes firmly fixed on the country’s presidency come 2012, under the banner of youthful and transformative leadership. It is also worth noting that the bellicose allies of the Agriculture Minister are alluding to a political alliance ahead of 2012 between the Agriculture Minister and one of these “smart lawyers.” Could the political alliance in the offing be the reason why there is a go slow in the repossession of this vital public asset? In whose interest is the Agriculture Minister and by extension, the Kenya Government dragging its feet on this matter? TOME FRANCIS, BUMULA. http://twitter.com/tomefrancis