Patrick Beja
20 August 2007
Nairobi — Company Secretaries have asked the Government to shift from political patronage to merit in appointment to public positions to fight corruption and ensure good corporate governance.
Members of the Institute of Certified Public Secretaries of Kenya (ICPSK) have also resolved to inject reforms in Government through the Public-Private Partnerships and held end the era of political godfathers.
At the three-day ICPSK annual seminar held at Sarova Whitesands Resort in Mombasa last week, participants agreed to engage the Government to ensure there is no room for political hangers-on behind grand economic scandals.
The seminar's theme was "Leadership and the role of professionals in economic and political affairs in the 21st century". Apart from local speakers, the meeting was addressed by experts from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, ICPSK national chairman, Mr Sam Ogutha, said mega scandals like Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing resulted from political patronage.
He demanded that key appointments in Government given after competitive recruitment and not mere political goodwill.
Providing leadership and policy options
Ogutha said corporate governance and economic affairs of state corporations would improve once every public company has a qualified company secretary like in Tanzania.
He said ICPSK members are taking a challenge from Speaker of the National Assembly Mr Francis Ole Kaparo to actively participate in politics, seriously. In a statement presented at the meeting, Kaparo had wondered why many professionals shunned politics.
"Our aim is to provide leadership and policy options necessary to spur economic development and good Government," Ogutha said.
Constitutional Affairs minister Ms Martha Karua also accused professionals of performing poorly and taking a back seat only to heap blame on Government. Presenting a paper at the seminar, Karua said: "The performance of our professionals both in the private and public sectors has not been satisfactory as in many areas they have let down Kenyans by providing low quality services."
However, the 2,500-member Institute challenged the Government to ensure all state corporations have qualified company secretaries to advise the board of directors.
"We want to ensure that management of economic affairs in parastatals gets better," Ogutha said.
Members called for the strengthening of the International Federation of Company Secretaries (IFCS) where Kenya is vice president. The world body aims to develop standards and ensure uniformity, conformity and quality and seek recognition at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Founder members of the world body include Kenya, Bangladesh (current president), India and Pakistani.
Resolve to encourage business beyond borders
The professionals resolved to encourage business beyond Kenya's borders so as to impact on the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the East African Community and other trading blocs.
A marketing expert and University of Nairobi lecturer, Mrs Catherine Ngahu, challenged the professionals to support economic integration and break regional barriers so as to expand business horizons.
Ngahu, who is Managing Director of SBO Research Limited, however, told the professionals to embrace retraining of human resources and adopt improved technologies to reap the benefits generated by trading blocs.
"Firms that wish to benefit from expanding regional markets should enhance competitiveness by focusing on activities where they have an advantage," she said.
She also asked the firms to form partnerships and strategic alliances with other firms to reap from regional markets.
Lack of enthusiasm among members
She was presenting a paper entitled: "expanding businesses horizons - breaking regional barriers".
She said the desire of firms to expand their international presence has been constrained by lack of enthusiasm among members and inadequate production of tradable goods by some countries that led to trade imbalances.
"Encouraged by the success of the European Union, many countries have bonded hoping that this will help improve their economic performance," Ngahu said.
However, lack of well developed transport and communication systems, common currency, political instabilities in some countries, multiple memberships and domination by one member constrained trading blocs.
Different stages of economic development, she said, also posed a major challenge. "Kenya for example has high population of well trained human resources ready to undertake activities in many professional areas in the region," she said.
ICPSK, who comprise lawyers and accountants asked the Capital Markets Authority to eject sound economic management and stop brokerage firms from selling investors' shares at will.
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