OPINION: Productive transformation - Should we incentivize manufacturing like we do churches?

One can’t help being stunned by Pastor Ezekiel Odero’s complex in Kilifi County, Kenya. Based on a Citizen Television report the impressive facility lies on 65 acres of land comprising a 6-acre church, a hotel, a dam, a bank, a school, and staff quarters among other projects.

An inspection of these grounds follows ongoing investigations allegedly linking him to Pastor Paul Mackenzie of whom more than 100 followers have died in a macabre fasting ritual and then buried in nearby Shakahola forest.

If what his lawyer Danstan Omari says is true, that all these works have taken one year to achieve, then we must ask ourselves many hard questions and provide credible answers about what it really means to be productive in Kenya.

Consequently, in thinking through this, you may have come across the (in)famous meme on African Christianity or variations of it. In one instance it presents a paradox on how Africans purchase a factory, convert it into a church then pray for jobs.

Some other versions posit that despite living in massive poverty “god-fearing” Africans love or own numerous churches, unlike their “god-less” Chinese counterparts who grow their wealth by establishing numerous factories that provide jobs plus offer imports to the continent.

Meanwhile, most analysis has tended to critique failing value systems or lay blame towards weakening authority figures and their relevant institutions that fail to nip the nefarious activities of charismatic charlatans in the bud.

While mentioning tax benefits acquired by churches in passing, such commentary has been quick to suggest regulatory solutions among other punitive measures.

Yet they fail to ask more important questions, namely: what do we really value as a country, and what incentives have we put in place to spur productivity that offers social mobility resulting from job creation that can prevent recruitment into cults?

For one, considering the countrywide level of inequality it makes perfect sense that poor people will join churches that can pull off such massive projects in the snap of a finger as opposed to looking for work from nonexistent factories.

The private sector demands a lot of individuals to qualify for employment in their business, while the government does not pull off similar projects in such a record time.

So, if a cult were to provide nonexistent service delivery or offer psychological support of any kind, then why would we be surprised by what has happened in Kilifi?

Taxation is so punitive for local industrialists; therefore, African countries cannot activate any transformation that transitions society from limited technology to activities that allow for the tapping of natural resources.

Neither can they develop manufacturing sectors that build commercial bases and create a dignified society with the requisite purchasing power to consume value-added goods or services created within their countries.

Yet for instance, in Kenya, pastors do not face such impediments thanks to tax exemptions provided for under Paragraph 10 of the first schedule of the Income Tax Act CAP 470 if an entity is established for purposes of religion.

Accordingly, as opposed to any other entrepreneur who may require a loan that is taxed and paid back with interest the clergy have a massive weekly injection of unrestricted capital through offerings or tithes depending on the number of sermons they conduct.

Essentially, Kenya has reduced the cost of establishing a church at the expense of factories and the same religious organizations do not take the opportunity of their incentives to invest in manufacturing.

Therein lies the vicious cycle that provides fodder for exploitation because the church’s preference for investments in real estate, hotel, or transportation cannot employ the masses of their congregations that are coming out of a declining agricultural sector.

Quite literally, Kenya has therefore invested more heavily in healing the brokenhearted as opposed to establishing the cliched favorable business environment that will uplift the people from destitution.

Should we subsequently ask religious organizations to invest in factories, like they previously did in health or education, or should we give entrepreneurs similar privileges? That is something worth pondering about.

The author is the Regional Coordinator of the East African Tax and Governance Network (EATGN). Follow on Twitter: @lennwanyama.