Is the Kenyan Finance Minister in the middle of a Dirty Economic Game????

The Kenyan finance minister is showing great signs of underhand economic mischief specifically because of an impending major IPO (Initial Public Offer) of Safaricom, a mobile phone service. Apparently, he is so determined to get into the books of history as the man who pulled off a deal worth over 34 Billion Kenya Shillings. With the country's elections just weeks away you may be forgiven for assuming that this is just a ploy to get money to fund the elections given that the incumbent is faring not so well in recent opinion polls that put him at 37% against his major challenger who gannered 53%. May be best way would be for the government to wait until after the elections before proceeding with the IPO. Forcing such issues at a time like this when the country is preparing for elections is taking Africa back to the old days when leaders did not respect the rule of law. They ruled with impunity stashing billions of taxpayers money in foreign accounts without regard of the people they lead. Mr Minister do not shame your country by playing dirty tricks with investments you hold in trust for the people. Kenya has shown great growth in the past 5 years so let it not be in vain.

Below is an article carried in The Business Daily voicing the same concern.

"The controversy surrounding the pending and much awaited Safaricom initial public offering goes to show the immediate need of the government to get out of private business. Although the government legally owns Safaricom, through Telkom Kenya, and has the right to sell the shares to the public, one must wonder about the timing.

On the one hand, the government argues that it needs the Sh34billion generated through the sale of the IPO to finance government initiatives, while on the other hand the Opposition, specifically ODM, fears that the government wants to use the proceeds to fund its political campaign.

This explains why certain ODM officials have taken legal action to prevent the IPO from seeing the light of day under the Kibaki government. History has proven that government is an inept and inefficient entrepreneur. It is better for private forces, driven purely by profit motivation, to undertake economic enterprises. Based on this point, it makes sense for the government to privatise Safaricom. But as we all know, Kenya is a country marked by shady deals, malfeasance, and gross government corruption, thus, the public must question the government’s eagerness to privatise as soon as possible.

We must question why Finance minister Amos Kimunya does not want the biggest IPO deal to be subjected to the Privatization Act passed in 2005. Although the government can easily quote the law and resort to claims of public interest, Kenyans must not be hoodwinked into believing that the deal is without dubious government interest.

Considering that the IPO process is complicated, translucent and not open to public scrutiny, it is possible to manipulate the underwriting process in favour of the government and politicians determined to win the coming election. It is not heretical to wonder why the biggest IPO in Kenyan history coincides with the General Election. I can understand the bragging rights that the current government stands to gain if it succeeds in executing one of the biggest IPOs in Africa. I also appreciate the global significance and the positive economic impact that this IPO will create for Kenya.

However, we are better off waiting until the General Election is over.

More importantly, we must make sure that the IPO is subject to law that informs business practices in the land — in this case the Privatization Act — in order to eliminate unethical scheming that might cast the financial market in bad light. Some at Treasury department contend that if the IPO is not implemented as soon as possible the country risks inflation."