KEPSA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKER’S ROUND TABLE- October 5, 2018

The Speaker of the National Assembly Hon. Justin Muturi this morning opened the 5th engagement between the leadership of the National Assembly and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, dubbed the Speaker’s Round Table, at the Leisure Lodge Resort, Diani. This is the maiden such engagement since the inception of the 12th Parliament.

During the engagement he underscored the importance of comradery and partnership noting the Private sector is as a critical engine of sustainable growth.

He emphasized the place of KEPSA in driving economic growth and development, adding that KEPSA provides a unified voice for the private sector through continued dialogue with the National Assembly through its Committees and memoranda submitted.

“This forum will guide the National Assembly in developing crucial legislation that will enable the government achieve the Big Four Development Agenda and that will not only lead to sustainable revenue collection but will create a conducive environment for local manufacturers and foreign investment”, Speaker Muturi noted.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance Ms. Carole Kariuki accentuated the need for a strengthened relationship between the Legislature and the Private Sector through the Speaker’s Round Table. “We have to relook at the energy sector, develop legislation to curb proliferation of illicit trade, low quality imports and develop strategies for affordable housing; this can only be achieved through concrete legislation,” she noted.

 On her part, the Senior Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly, Ms. Sarah Kioko who was representing the Clerk, recognized that the Speaker’s Round Table as an important activity in the calendar of the National Assembly, adding that the healthy and fruitful engagements have had positive outcome on legislation. She cited the enactment of the Bribery Act, enacted in 2016, which was spearheaded by the Private Sector under the auspices of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA).

Participants of the Speakers Round Table- an annual consultative forum hosted by the Speaker of the National Assembly and co-sponsored by the two partners, are drawn from the Private Sector, Chairs of Departmental Committees of the National Assembly, Members of Parliament and titans of industries from the private sector. Attendees in this year’s forum recognized that the dialogue will entrench and promote values of good business. Ethics and practices of innovation, hard work and collective responsibility.

This National Assembly engagement with KEPSA comes at a critical moment when the country is in the process of actualizing the Big Four Agenda, and high on the National Assembly’s commitment to meeting sustainable development goals.

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