There are moments when governments must be reminded that not everything is for sale. Some national assets carry values that cannot be measured in shillings and cents. That is why the proposal to privatise the Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB) is part of a reckless, poorly informed, and dangerous gallery of ideas that should never have been entertained.
To call it misguided would be an understatement. No! It is, quite frankly, criminal. To tamper with an institution that forms the intellectual backbone of our nation is to gamble with the future of our children and grandchildren.
Let me explain. I am not speaking from the periphery. I am an active player in the book industry, with over 40 publications published across ten publishers. The book industry is not just another line of business in the economy. It is the very spine of our development and the custodian of our intellectual heritage. Books are the vessels through which a nation transmits its values, knowledge, and aspirations to future generations. To imagine that the production of teaching resources, the lifeblood of education, can be handed over to private profit-seekers is to grossly misunderstand what is at stake.
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We have been down this road before. The disorganisation of the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation (JKF) remains a sad testimony to what happens when mandarins in high offices make reckless decisions about critical institutions. We destroyed JKF not because it had failed. No. It was systematic strangulation. We starved it of funding, then appointed inefficient individuals to mismanage it. Instead of strengthening it, we dismantled it. Instead of vision, we chose expediency. Must we repeat this blunder with KLB? This will be a tragedy.
Let us not forget where KLB comes from. It is the proud child of the defunct East African Literature Bureau (EALB). Our forefathers, with remarkable foresight, established this institution to anchor our intellectual sovereignty. They understood that a nation aspiring to compete in the top league of knowledge production must invest in robust publishing institutions.
The mandate of KLB is not vague and cannot be executed by a private publishing firm. It is crystal clear and enshrined in law. Under the Kenya Literature Bureau Act, Cap 209 (Revised 2012), the Bureau is tasked with publishing, printing, and distributing educational, cultural, and scientific works; supporting authors; producing affordable books for schools and adult literacy; translating works into local languages; and ensuring that scholarly and literary materials are available to all. This is not a luxury. It is a duty. That is why the next time I meet the Managing Director of KLB, I will challenge him to enter academic journal publishing, so that KLB can bring to the global stage top-notch research findings from East Africa.
Here is the irony: KLB is not a loss-making entity. It is one of the few State corporations that has consistently made profits. It pays its writers and content producers, something most private publishing firms avoid. Why then should it be sold? Who benefits? The answer lies not in economics but in vested interests.
Selling KLB would not be reform. It would be sabotage. It would deny our children and grandchildren the legacy of strong, functioning institutions carefully built over decades. It would surrender the public good to private greed. If there is a problem at KLB, it does not lie in its mandate or current leadership. Let us not destroy KLB by giving it poor leadership. Kenya has a record of ruining institutions by appointing individuals without the capacity or vision to run them. KLB is performing. Leave it alone. Strengthen it. Fund it. Modernise it. But do not sell it.
There is also a bigger question that we must not lose sight of: security. Yes, security. Knowledge is power, and power has always been tied to the control of information. By privatising KLB, we compromise not just education but also our cultural and intellectual security. How do we entrust the production of national curriculum materials, literacy texts, and scientific works to private hands whose sole motive is profit? How do we gamble with the future of knowledge production in Kenya for a quick shilling?
Our children deserve better. Our writers deserve better. Our country deserves better. Let us be clear: no private publishing house can shoulder the mandate of the Kenya Literature Bureau. None will commit to producing affordable literacy materials. None will invest in translating works into local languages to expand access. None will sustain literary competitions to nurture emerging talent. These are not just business ventures; they are national responsibilities that must remain anchored in public trust. Let us remind ourselves that, in the grand architecture of development, books are not commodities to be traded off to the highest bidder. They are treasures to be preserved, nurtured, and passed on.
KLB is not just another publishing house. It is part of our heritage. It is part of our future. Therefore, it must never be auctioned to private interests.
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By Egara Kabaji