President William Ruto has accused some private sector leaders of engaging in backdoor dealings with Members of Parliament.
Speaking during a roundtable with private sector stakeholders on Wednesday, August 6, Ruto has warned that such practices are distorting government policy and undermining formal engagement channels.
The president gave examples, saying that some company executives are bypassing established systems by bribing MPs and pushing for favorable decisions in parliamentary committees.
“The industry should help us to stop your members from short-circuiting the system. What happens is your members don’t use the formal channels we have established with the industry to process issues, be it legislation, policy, or executive intervention.”
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Ruto Exposes Industry for Influencing Tax Policies
He said that instead of working through organized platforms for dialogue between government and industry, some companies choose to directly influence parliamentary decisions through bribery.
“Many of your members bribe the members of parliament in committees, and in the process, you go against these engagements. We end up with policies and taxes that are skewed. It eventually distorts everything that we are trying to do,” the President said.
Further, he asked the private sector to take collective responsibility and ensure its members adhere to the formal avenues of engagement.
According to the head of state, the government is open to working with the industry on matters of policy and reform. However, he warned that rogue tactics undermine national development goals.
Additionally, he noted that industry players who influenced policy-making because they were unhappy with decisions made through formal engagement lacked integrity.
“You should get your members to engage with the government in the formal channels we have established.”
“ We end up with a distorted policy environment, and they end up serving individual companies,” he added.
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Meeting with MPs for Receiving Bribes
Consequently, he announced plans to hold a meeting with Members of Parliament to address the concerns.
He said that they would talk about the influence of private sector players on legislative processes around taxation and policy formulation.
“You should get your members to engage with the government in the formal channels that we have established. I will be having a meeting with the members of parliament on this very topic, because it is a source of concern that companies influence committees in parliament and officials.
We end up with a distorted policy environment.”
The President was responding to concerns raised over corporate lobbying and its influence on legislative decisions.
Ruto added that his administration is committed to ensuring transparency and accountability and called on the private sector to uphold integrity and ensure a predictable policy environment.
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