This is Illiterate – Miguna to Ichung’wah

Thursday, November 30, 2023 –Lawyer Miguna Miguna has today clapped back at the Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah over his claims that privatization of KICC will help Kenya make more money.

Describing Ichung’wah’s utterances on the floor of the Parliament as ‘illiteracy’, Miguna argued that, just like a private entity can be profitable, governments elsewhere run profitable enterprises as well.

“This is illiterate. Governments all over the world run profitable hotels, banks and other enterprises. Nothing stops the Government from leasing KICC space to private enterprises at a profit.

“However, ownership must remain public. You don’t have to sell parastatals to make them profitable,” Lawyer Miguna stated shortly after Ichung’wah made the remarks on the floor.

Offering his two cents on how the State can run a viable enterprise, Dr. Miguna said this can be done through hiring of qualified and competent mangers.

“You have to hire competent and incorruptible managers to run them. The GoK sold KQ, Uchumi, KBS, etc. to oligarchs for a song, then continued to plunder them to bankruptcy.

“Privatization doesn’t necessarily result in profitability of enterprises. In Kenya, it results into bankruptcy,” Miguna further responded to Ichung’wah’s remarks.

Lawyer Miguna who supported Ruto in his presidentila bid in 2022 argued that that many private companies have collapsed due to mismanagement and this is a public knowledge issue.

“It’s financially illiterate to argue that privatization makes anything profitable. Show us one profitable public enterprise you have privatized. Just one!” Miguna challenged Ichung’wah.

Government of Kenya passed the so called Privatisation Bill that allowed it to privatise certain state-owned businesses among them KICC, and many other sugar factories around the expansive Western Region.

This new Act, however, was received by mixed reactions from both leaders, interest groups and individuals.