Mudavadi hints at merger of agencies to curb wastage

The government is mulling over merging of regulatory authorities in the country due to overlapping and duplication of roles, which leads to wastage of resources and unnecessary red tape.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi on Thursday said this is because there is lack of coordination and coherence among regulatory bodies.

“This is a state of affairs that cannot be allowed to continue,” he said.

Mudavadi, who is also the Foreign Affairs CS, spoke at a meeting of the heads of 78 regulatory authorities and agencies at the Kenya School of Government in Mombasa to take stock of their work to improve services. 

The meeting was convened by Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei.

Mudavadi said the maintenance of this huge number of authorities and agencies incurs substantial costs, burdening the Treasury, which effectively means burdening the taxpayers.

He said this financial strain inadvertently leads to the regulatory bodies prioritising revenue-generating activities over their primary mandate of regulatory oversight.

“Instead of focusing on safeguarding citizens and ensuring effective sectoral regulation, they may be overly preoccupied with collecting licensing fees and income-generating projects such as real estate ventures,” Mudavadi said.

He said enterprises across the country pay regulatory fees through the nose because of the maze of conditions, requirements, fees, charges and levies imposed by multiple government agencies and regulatory bodies.

“This may require tough decisions to be taken to give effect to the merging of certain regulators,” the Mudavadi said.

In the manufacturing sector, for instance, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) and Department of Weights and Measures all assert their authority over aspects such as labelling and inspection.

This overlapping mandate often leads to confusion and inefficiencies for businesses striving to comply with regulatory requirements, Mudavadi said.

In the food and beverage industry, regulation spans across Nema, county governments, Kenya Bureau of Halal Certification and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (Kephis).

In the aviation industry, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority is responsible for overseeing various aspects of civil aviation including safety oversight, air navigation services and aircraft registration.

However, within this domain, other entities such as Kenya Airports Authority and the State Department of Transport also hold significant regulatory roles.

While KCAA focuses on safety and regulatory compliance, KAA manages airport infrastructure and operations, where there is often a duplication of efforts and conflicting directives.

He said there is uncertainty with regard to which of these entities should regulate aviation training schools as their roles are cross-cutting.

“On account of the regulatory environment in aviation, we now have a situation where businesses prefer to have their aircrafts serviced in Uganda and as far as Egypt thus denying Kenyan businesses the opportunity,” Mudavadi said.

He said he has witnessed a situation where the Kenya Air Force, which has some of the best engineers in aviation, struggled for more than a year to get a maintenance licence.

“Kenya Air Force being taken in circles. That speaks volumes,” Mudavadi said.

He said the efficiency and effectiveness of regulatory authorities and agencies must be enhanced to ease the burden on taxpayers and make it easier to do business in Kenya and attract foreign investment.

Mudavadi urged the regulatory authorities and agencies to establish Corruption Prevention Committees and institute measures geared towards wiping out avenues of corruption.

“Regulatory authorities and agencies must not be dens of corruption or rent-seeking. They must carry out their core mandates effectively and in the national interest,” he said.

Mudavadi said about 83 per cent of the pending bills in the country’s economy is being held by parastatals, adding that regulators must be facilitators and not obstructers of business.

Chief of Staff Koskei said regulatory authorities are the most critical bodies that make the government offer services efficiently and effectively.

“With some encouragement and support to run their affairs within their mandate, we shall have a functioning government,” Koskei said.

He said there were a lot of challenges in the construction industry but since the regulatory authorities were streamlined, there are less challenges now.

“We are seeing a lot of improvement on our roads. All those information you are seeing is because NTSA are working very hard,” Koskei said.

He urged regulatory bodies to wait less in instruction and implement more on what the law says.

“So that we have equity, fairness, accountability and objectivity when it comes to service delivery,” He said.

Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir said county governments also need to have regulatory roles and be custodians of planning.

He said consulting counties on matters planning and housing can save Kenyan taxpayers billions.

For instance, he said, the national government wasted billions of shillings on the new Court of Appeal building in Mombasa, which cannot be occupied now because of cracks, making it a danger.

“All this is because nobody bothered to consult the county when constructing it,” Nassir said.