The procurement of electric meters and many other items by Kenya Power has always been subject to controversy. Local firms usually accuse the company of favouring foreign firms.
Companies with manufacturing and assembly operations in the country insist they have the capability to produce meters that are up to standard. But utilities such as Kenya Power argue that many of the meters they get from local firms are usually characterised by high failure rates and that the company usually has to contend with revenue losses during the periods the meters experience downtime.
While both sides may have valid arguments, it is in the interest of the country to find a middle ground. This does not in any way mean that Kenya Power should compromise on quality, but rather the company and the industry should figure out how to address the concerns that each side has.
Any flourishing local industry means more jobs for Kenyans and if we can get to the point of exporting more products to other countries, the better for us as it means foreign exchange earnings.
President William Ruto is a strong proponent of the 'buy Kenya, build Kenya' initiative. He proposed recently that we import less of what we can produce, such as furniture, in order to create jobs for our many unemployed youths. That is the way to go. There is no reason why this cannot be scaled up to include high-value goods such as electric meters. If Kenya can produce quality meters, the market would be huge as even regional countries are working hard to connect their growing populations to the electrical grid.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought to the fore the creativity of Kenyans with youths assembling equipment many people had not heard of such as ventilators. With the right incentives, Kenya can quickly become a formidable industrial hub.
What is needed is more support from the government, and constant communication between companies and consumers so that we can constantly improve on the quality of our products. Kenya will continue to make baby steps if we continue to overly rely on imported products.
