Local Automobile Manufacturers throw their wrath on state for being unrealistic

Kenya hopes to deploy some 300 high capacity buses. The first batch was expected to be received in the country last month but they did not arrive for an unexplained reason. The Transport made a decision to import the high-capacity buses from South Africa and this has elicited an uproar among local motor vehicle assemblers who felt the State was going back on its local content push.

They made unrealistic timelines to lock out local assemblers from the high capacity bus tender.The government will use the buses to launch five BRT corridors in Nairobi in a move aimed at reducing traffic congestion in the capital. Priority corridors include Limuru-Kangemi-CBD-Imara Daima  Athi River to Kitengela road.

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“It is not about standards but time. Our local manufacturers may not have met the tight deadline but we have assured them that the next set of buses will be made locally as a way of promoting manufacturing in the country,” he said during a tour the Kenya Bureau of Standards offices last week. Trade and Industrialisation Cabinet secretary Peter Munya said the local manufacturers are capable of meeting the standards of producing the 64 buses Kenya for the improved commuter system set to be rolled out soon but tight timelines kept them away.

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“We have the capacity to supply BRT (Bus Rapid Transport) vehicles using the new bodybuilding standards, we simply don’t understand why the government is going for South Africa,” said Isuzu East Africa chief executive Rita Kavashe said last month when Mr Macharia announced the move to source from South Africa. Mr Munya’s remark appears to contradict a position taken earlier by his Transport and Infrastructure counterpart James Macharia who opted for imports, citing quality concerns on local production.

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