Kenya Meat Commission Revival Welcome

Photo: EA Standard
Just when the country was trying hard to digest the bad news from Uchumi's fall from grace and profitability, the government has done what any government should do. It has acted to save face and revive crucial public sector businesses. It has worked hard to revive the Kenya Meat Commission and now the plant is at least running. Test runs have been completed and the once famous meat processor is in the process of reclaiming its lost glory. That is after fifteen years in the doldrums. The government has proved that actions speak louder than words. See EA Standard story on KMC's revival.


The reopening of KMC is good news not just for the country's economy but also for the oft-neglected pastoralist communities who tend animals for a living.They will now work as hard as they have always done but with the reassurance that they now have a ready market. KMC will save them from having to see their animals die during droughts as they can be slaughtered and their meat canned while they are still in reasonable shape. The country can earn much needed foreign exchange with the export of meat and meat products to the Middle East and the European Union.

This is just the latest in a string of decisions that the government made and which are in my humble opinion a step in the right direction. They include the provision of free primary education (dismissed as impossible by Moi just some years back),the waiver of farmers' loans, the recarpeting of roads and completion of new ones at a respectable pace, the stabilising of milk, coffee and tea producer prices, the improvement of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (upgrading of facilities),the rescue of the Kenyatta International Conference Centre and elevation of the same to international conference facility standards etc

Then there is the raising of police salaries, teachers' salaries, armed forces salaries,civil servants salaries etc as well as good returns posted by large corporations. Police housing has been addressed with the completion of new housing estates for the officers. Then there is the rescue plan for Uchumi Supermarkets that is now being put in place (see news report) as well as the bailing out of ill performing parastatals that are now finally raking in good revenues. The government will inject up to 900 million shillings as a step-in measure in Uchumi's revival.

Of course there are areas that the government can improve in: increase its accountability and punish corruption and deliver wholesale improvement infrastructure improvement. The government has shown that it is working even as its critics shout themselves hoarse but do little for their own constituents.