MP Joshua Kandie HAS JOINED and Katundo South MP Moses Kuria in fighting against counterfeit products flooding the market.
Kandie, a trained economist, says action must be taken immediately to stop the influx of fake goods and services to strengthen the ailing economy.
In May 2019, Kuria said the country is losing about Sh30billion to counterfeit goods and said, Kenya should also look for 'ways to produce our own counterfeit goods to salvage our economy".
Kandie called counterfeits a wake-up call to both the national and county governments.
“It is high time the government should pump more resources in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutes to promote the local talents and innovators,” he said.
The legislator spoke while signing an MoU by the Kenya Chamber of Commerce and German donors, to benefit the Baringo county government and Kapsoo Technical College in his constituency on Wednesday.
He said the MoU is a great opportunity not only to enrich the student to acquire technical skills but also to have their original products patented and sold in local and international markets.
“It is already in public domain that the Chinese goods and services are always vague and the genuine ones either come from Germany or Japan so what we only require as a country is to and tap the developers' knowledge and use it for our own benefit,” Kandie said.
He joined by Kenya Chamber of Commerce Deputy President Dr Erick Ruto, Baringo commissioner Henry Wafula and Deputy Governor Jacob Chepkwony.
They were hosted by Baringo Technical principal Isaac Kwambok who urged the government to buy equipment for TVETs.
Dr Ruto said as a commercial sector they are ready to invest heavily in TVET training and hiring local graduates to actualise the country’s industrialisation goal.
He said would ensure Chinese products and manpower are slowly eliminated and called on residents to acquire technical skills and make their own products.
“To achieve this dream, we should also as a people embrace the culture of buying and selling our own locally made products,” Ruto said.
German businessman Claus Schwenk donated modern learning equipment and promised to offer the necessary support so Kenyan citizens acquire the right skills and machinery to develop their own products.
“The signing of ab MoU today is a win for us in Baringo and Kenya at large, this is the way to go to eradicate joblessness and improve our economy,” Chepkwony said.
Wafula said the region is secure and investors are welcome.
