Kenya must not descend into eco-tyranny

At stake is a regime whose centrepiece is a system whereby the producer bears the primary responsibility for the cost of managing the negative environmental impact of his products and where that responsibility extends to the post- consumer stages of the product’s life.

The case for new regulations to protect the environment from pollution cannot be gainsaid.

But the government has missed the point by displaying determination to protect the environment from pollution without regard for consequences to the consumer.

Reading through the findings of a recent survey by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance on the potential impact of the new regime, I was stunned at the magnitude of the havoc which the regulations will visit on a broad range of consumer prices.

What we have at stake here is a regressive impost on consumer of a range of imported products.

And it's like we are driving on reverse gear because when you follow recent trends and the contemporary thinking on waste management policies, you will find that the catch phrase today is ‘the polluter pays’. In our case, it seems that we have framed our EPR regulations and consequently set the eco levies and fees on the basis of a new catch phrase ‘the household pays’.

The regulations are introducing stringent environmental measures that are bound to change the economic and business environment in many significant ways.

In modern societies, environmental laws and regulations are designed and framed to support growth, economic security and employment.

Policymakers navigate carefully to ensure that they are not blinded by contemporary obsessions and fads and always strive to make sure that environmental laws don’t hurt business. Let us not forget that the descent into a regime of eco-tyranny is deceptively easy.

Here, the new regulations have introduced complex and maddening amendments. Where is the wisdom of introducing fees on raw materials and on unprocessed substances used in local manufacturing? Does it make sense to impose the levy on food and fertiliser imported into the country to cover deficits arising from gaps in local production? Where is the wisdom in charging fees on every single item imported into the country instead of consignments. The regulations are not only complex, but also contain legal litter.

In the computer world, user friendliness means the designing of a computer with the need and convenience of the user in mind. The regulations have not been framed with the convenience of the user in mind.

Since we are members of the East African Customs Union, isn’t it only logical that the regulations should adopt the categorisations and definitions prescribed by the regional trading bloc when it comes to terms such as ‘finished goods’, ‘intermediate goods’, and ‘raw materials’?

I have suggestions for the government.

First, listen to suggestions and genuine criticisms by businesses and other wealth creating segments of our society. We must give local manufacturers time to look for alternative supply chains. Consider a phased implementation.

A thorough regulatory impact assessment before the regulations kick- in fully should also be considered. Success will not happen until we inject the ‘S’ factor into our environmental and waste management regulations- stable, simple and sane. Transitions work best where they are properly managed and phased.

Today, the genuine and legitimate criticism and lamentations by organised industry and professional associations are impulsively waved aside and dismissed as rantings of vested interests. We must listen to the views of the people on the ground.

Worse the new regime of stringent environment regulations is being introduced at a time when the private sector is not in good health. Corporate profits have basically flat-lined in the last 10 years.

We might not readily admit it, but this economy has been going through a protracted crisis of corporate profitability whose upshot has been a major slowdown in private sector investment. This is reflected in a slowdown in the take up of commercial bank credit by companies, an increasing number of retrenchments by companies, and frequent profit warnings by listed companies.

The writer is a former Managing Editor for The EastAfrican