Naivas dispute: Probe MCA extortion claims
By Editorial, May 16, 2025The work of county assemblies has not been particularly inspiring in the devolution story. Most of those elected to the assemblies carry with them the mindset of the old Town Council operations that were largely clouded by corruption, ineptitude and incompetence, which had become entrenched and generally condoned.
Today, most MCAs see their roles as opportunities for self-enrichment through corruption. This takes away money meant for key services. Many businesses have come out complaining about extortion by MCAs, often around the issuing of licences. This kind of corruption increases the cost of doing business and punishes enterprise.
It creates uncertainty, lowers efficiency in an economy, distorts investment priorities and reduces the transparency of transactions, while undercutting a nation’s ability to raise revenues. The net effect is that it undermines the ability of both levels of government to raise revenue for delivery of public goods.
In Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, Kenya scored 32 on a scale of 0 (“highly corrupt”) to 100 (“very clean”). When ranked by score, Kenya was 121st among the 180 countries surveyed, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector.
Several business surveys reveal that business corruption is still widespread and that companies frequently encounter demands for bribes and informal payments to ‘get things done’ in Kenya. This increases the cost of doing business and deters investment and creation of jobs.
Many foreign and local companies have shut shop and shifted to different countries because of business corruption in Kenya. That is why we are concerned about emerging reports about extortion and blackmail in the ongoing standoff between the Nairobi County Assembly and the supermarket chain Naivas in a dispute that has seen Governor Johnson Sakaja come to the defence of the company.
The feud has also lifted the lid on how some legislators use committees to extort from investors and business entities.
While we don’t have evidence for the extortion claims, those who know the conduct of MCAs advise that the allegations cannot be ignored.
Investigations should be conducted to ensure that corruption is not deployed to hurt honest businesses.
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