SHILINGI KWA SHILINGI Murang’a’s noble idea that is sending ripples Posted by: The People in Political February 1, 2014 Late last year, Murang’a became a major point of discussion in investment circles. Most discussions were around the county government’s move to set up an investment cooperative society to mobilise funds for commercial development in the county. The cooperative is the brainchild of Governor Mwangi wa Iria and targets to raise Sh3 billion annually to be invested in commercial ventures in the county including agribusiness, real estate and energy among other sectors. In other words, where other governors had resorted to woe investors into their jurisdiction through investor conferences that were consuming millions of shillings, Murang’a chose to take a different route; that of relying on the people who hail from the county as the anchor investors. So novel was the governor’s plan that President Uhuru Kenyatta took notice. In his Jamhuri Day speech, he appeared to endorse the idea of such a cooperative as he spoke on the promise of devolution. “I am extremely proud of counties that are pooling together local resources for development,” said the President. It is instructive to note that Murang’a has some of the most successful entrepreneurs in Kenya with investments spanning many sectors of the economy. Most of these businesses were built through the same spirit of pooling together. Yet, even with their financial muscle, these entrepreneurs do not invest at home. So much so that for a long time, there was not a single hotel to write home about in Murang’a until two years ago. It is this trend where the county’s residents have in the past invested outside their home region that Wa Iria wants to change through the cooperative. “The purpose of the cooperative is to mobilise capital for investment in the county. Murang’a people are wealthy but there isn’t yet a way to mobilise their wealth for investments in their own county. Most of their wealth is invested out of the county,” says the governor. He argues that through this vehicle, Murang’a people will have the first priority in investment opportunities identified by the county government. “For example, we are building Murang’a as an agricultural county. From this strategy, there are multibillion profit opportunities such as milk and coffee processing and marketing. It would be unfair if these huge opportunities are just exploited by investors from other places while the ordinary people of Murang’a if well organised and mobilised could be the ones to earn the dividends,” he says. Wa Iria says he draws inspiration for the investment cooperative from two sources. “First, I was inspired by the success stories of Murang’a people pooling finances to build successful businesses. Our people have pooled resources either as investment groups or cooperatives. The investment groups such as Rwathia Group and Equity Bank (previously Equity Building Society) have inspired so many other wealth creating ventures such as the now listed Trancentury group. Murang’a has the largest membership in Kenya’s vibrant cooperative movement. More than 365,000 of the county’s residents are members of cooperatives in various sectors, including agriculture, housing, real estate and financial services. Such success stories include the Unaitas Sacco, which started in the county but has recently gone national. He also wants to replicate the success of Prince Aga Khan in uplifting the economic well being of the Ismailia community in East Africa. The inspiration from Aga Khan is not out of the blues. The governor has an inside knowledge of how the Aga Khan empire operates. When the governor left New KCC where he worked as the managing director in a politically instigated sacking, he was head hunted by the Aga Khan to work as the General Manager at the Investment Promotion Services, the commercial arm of his empire. “Many people do not know that all the wealth that is attributed to Prince Aga Khan actually belongs to the Ismailia community in East Africa. What happens is that individual Ismailias set aside a small amount of money at the end of the month which is then collectively saved through the foundation,” says Wa Iria The money is then invested in a variety of sectors across the world and the profits from the investments is then shared as dividends to members of the community. As a result, there is no Ismailia member in East Africa who is poor. “That is my vision for Murang’a, where just like the Ismailia community no body will be poor in the county,” he says. But the politicians in the Murang’a county have not been sitting pretty since the launch of the cooperative. Both senator and women representative have been vocal in their opposition to the project. Kembi Gitura, the county senator and Deputy Senate Speaker, claims the cooperative is illegal. On the other hand, Women Representative Wanjiru Chege has opposed the project on the grounds that MPs from the county were not involved in is formation. “No elected leader from the county was consulted when the governor was setting up the cooperative,” argued Chege in a BBC documentary on the county. But Kiharu MP Irungu Kang’ata differs, saying there is no law that requires the governor to consult area MPs. “The governor has an independent mandate which is derived directly from the people. Essentially, this means that the governor projects do not need to be vetted by either the senator or the women representative,” says Kang’ata. The opposition from the politicians in the county is understandable. In a county where government projects do not count for much and where politicians are judged by how much they have helped the residents to make money, the cooperative is threat to many political careers. - By Gitahi Ngunyi
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 09:27:22 +0000