Beware the catchy phrase "business environment"

December 1, 1955 changed the course of civil rights history. On that Thursday, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks decided to stick to her seat on a racially segregated bus.

She refused to obey the driver’s order to give up her seat in the coloured section of the bus to a white passenger, who could not find a seat in the already-filled white section.

Rosa was abused and labelled as insane: she was a radical goon, people said, a lunatic. How could she dare disobey the law and not cede her seat to a superior white man in a public bus? Police arrested her for violating the segregation laws of the State of Alabama.

That “madness” made Rosa "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement" as the US Congress celebrated her.  Her birthday, February 4, and the day she was arrested, December 1, have both become Rosa Parks Day in the United States.

Rosa Parks was not the first or the last to fight for civil rights. The civil rights struggle is a continuum, an ongoing mission entrusted to every human being.

Civil rights struggles make governments uneasy; they are usually uncomfortable with, and wary of, dissent.

Criticising a government may mean death, imprisonment, ostracism, and poverty, but it may also mean loyalty and heroism. It all depends on how genuine and democratic that government is.

In democracies, where there is a choice, people identify themselves with their leaders, there is a sense of identification, whether ethnic, ethic, or economic, and that is why they choose them.

MANIPULATORS AND VULTURES

How governments react to criticism is a real-time democratic test. How governments treat their dissidents is the hallmark of tolerance and freedom.

Freedom, a difficult word and elusive concept, is perhaps one of the most manipulated words on the lips of leaders. All leaders want people to perceive them as fair, open and desirable, even when freedom is elusive. If they are not, they will cheat their people to make them believe they are.

Freedom is essential, for only it makes governance sustainable, and true innovation can only thrive in a free setting. Only manipulators and vultures grow rich in oppressive systems, where only those who have access to power benefit.

Over the years, Kenya's economy has grown progressively. As we ushered in the new millennium, Kenya’s ease of doing business improved in leaps and bounds, climbing  to position 68 worldwide by 2006.

After 2007, we entered a slippery slope that saw us fall to position 109 in 2012, and then 129 in 2014. We hit rock bottom in 2015, when we ranked at position 136, immediately behind Mozambique, Lesotho, Pakistan, Iran, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati and Cambodia. In 2016 we climbed back to 108, and this year we have been ranked at position 92.

Sadly, this latest improvement coincides with a complicated election year, which usually marks a decline in government efficiency and throws expenditure into disarray.

LOW ETHICS PARAMETERS

Kenya has amazing potential but we should not forget that business indexes move hand in hand with civil and human rights indexes.

Our environment is peculiar and unique, with four common traits that rarely share the same platform in other countries: amazing innovation, low ethics parameters, inefficient government structures and a free press.

Kenyans are amazing innovators who can turn anything into a business. Rain, drought, and floods are all business opportunities. We have witnessed a mobile revolution. Incubators such as iLab and iHubAfrica are constantly creating new systems and ideas that keep rocking the market.

Kenya exports, not just talent but also the output of very talented young men and women, yet this innovation is often accompanied by low ethical standards.

Our approach is quite superficial and unsustainable. We want to be rich, today, here and now. Our approach is simple: “others have the copyright and I have the right to copy”.

When it comes to government structures, we are in trouble. To start a business in Kenya requires at least a name reservation as regulated by the Companies Act 2015 (Part V, Section 48).

Doingbusiness.org explains in detail how to register a company, which comes with a number of tedious statutory implications.

Once the name is registered, one must register for taxes at the Kenya Revenue Authority, obtain County government permits, the National Social Security Fund, the National Hospital Insurance Fund and the company seal (no longer a legal requirement but common practice). There is a long array of additional permits for specific businesses. 

THOSE WHO TRAVEL

Costs will vary. According to kuzabiashara.co.ke, to start a small butchery may cost between Sh50,000 and Sh1 million, while a mobile money transfer shop could go for between Sh200,000 and Sh1 million.

A car-wash or cake baking business will cost between 80,000 and half a million. Doingbusiness.org explains all the relevant steps quite well.

Starting a business is not only a matter of permits, but general environment, levels of extortion, interest rates, purchasing power and opportunity, conditions that are controlled directly or indirectly by government policies and governance philosophies.

Finally, we have a free press. We think there is more corruption in Kenya than in other countries, including some of our neighbours, but those who travel often may tell a different story.

In our country, we are more vocal, we say what we think and we tweet without thinking. The government has become a bit irritable sometimes, and that is a good sign. Political dissent is largely respected as long as it does not get mixed up with dirty businesses.

Hopefully Kenya will soon become a one-stop shop, which will make things faster, cheaper and cleaner. Ethics, on the other hand, should be dealt with in a different post.

Dr Franceschi is the dean of Strathmore Law School. [email protected]; Twitter: @lgfranceschi