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The-Accountant-Jul-Aug-2017

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EDITORIAL<br />

Dear Reader,<br />

In our cover story, we discuss trade<br />

secrets. Secrecy has been a part of<br />

trade for thousands of years; People<br />

who depend on making their money<br />

by selling something or providing<br />

a service which other people are unable<br />

to make or provide, defend their turf by<br />

raising barriers to entry. Trade secrecy is<br />

legal and protects relationships of trust.<br />

Secrecy allowed a region in China to profit<br />

for centuries by harvesting silkworms to<br />

produce silk – something that could be<br />

done in Kenya; not just secret formulas and<br />

designs, but even simple facts, such as the<br />

features that might be introduced in the<br />

next iPhone, or which country a business<br />

intends to go into next. In Kenya, there are<br />

eleven laws related to intellectual property,<br />

seven sets of regulations, three guidelines<br />

and fifty four treaties. Enforcing business<br />

secrets has nothing to do with a lack of<br />

transparency in government.<br />

Although it may seem paradoxical, trade<br />

secret laws can enable and encourage<br />

technology transfer, because these laws<br />

provide a commercially reasonable way<br />

to disseminate information. Although<br />

some aspects of secrecy laws, such as data<br />

exclusivity for drug companies can be<br />

controversial, there is a general agreement<br />

that confidential disclosure is beneficial in<br />

a modern economy.<br />

Meanwhile, an accounting transition is<br />

always a tricky affair. <strong>The</strong> commendable<br />

difference is that government has instituted<br />

elaborate plans to learn from experienced<br />

industry practitioners that have been<br />

contracted to assist in compliance with<br />

International Public Sector Accounting<br />

Standards requirements.<br />

Arguably, government sector accounts<br />

has many concepts and technical issues<br />

that obtaining a fair presentation of the<br />

financial affairs is more complex than it is<br />

in the private sector, hence this important<br />

effort appears complex and costly to effect.<br />

A common problem that has faced the<br />

early adopters is that government activities<br />

focus on macroeconomic approach and<br />

thus its management practices and data<br />

reporting methods are significantly<br />

different from the private sector. Accrual<br />

based financial reporting gives broader<br />

information, which cash accounting does<br />

not. It also gives a wider than ordinary view<br />

of the liabilities compared to the assets<br />

according to this writer. Find out more<br />

under Financial Reporting and Assurance;<br />

it is titled- Pushing the boundaries of<br />

Government sector financial reporting.<br />

In Business Practice and Development,<br />

we feature- Emerging Trends in<br />

Accounting. <strong>The</strong> author says that the<br />

Accountancy profession has contributed<br />

to the development and growth of ancient<br />

civilizations. From the Babylonians to the<br />

Egyptians, the need for records has satisfied<br />

the need to keep day to day affairs well<br />

structured, managed and planned for. <strong>The</strong><br />

development of accounting has over the<br />

years since then, developed to a necessity<br />

for modern day trade, governance and every<br />

day operations. Owing to how integral the<br />

service is, it is no wonder that there have<br />

been remarkable developments in that<br />

space. Scholarly articles, research papers,<br />

development of courses and other avenues<br />

have been utilized to further advance<br />

this field. In line with this development,<br />

Accounting has also benefited from the<br />

advancements in other fields as well. <strong>The</strong><br />

Enron Scandal brought to light the evils<br />

of poor accounting practices and the need<br />

for greater accountability and transparency<br />

in the operations of business. While the<br />

move for sustainability has lasted longer<br />

than this, the need for business to take<br />

up more responsibility has been greater<br />

appreciated since.<br />

In the Governance segment, the<br />

Infrastructural Problems in Kenya’s<br />

Public Universities are explored; the<br />

author wonders whether Public Private<br />

Partnerships (PPP) could be the solution.<br />

<strong>The</strong> writer further clarifies that Public<br />

Private Partnerships involves a contract<br />

between the public and private sector.<br />

It describes a government service or<br />

private business venture which is funded<br />

and operated through a partnership of<br />

government and one or more private sector<br />

companies. <strong>The</strong> worldwide experience has<br />

shown that Public Private Partnerships,<br />

if properly formulated, can provide a<br />

variety of benefits to the government. For<br />

example: A PPP can increase the value for<br />

money spent on infrastructure services by<br />

providing more-efficient, lower-cost, and<br />

reliable services; a PPP helps keep public<br />

sector budgets, and especially budget<br />

deficiencies, down; a PPP allows the public<br />

sector to avoid up-front capital costs and<br />

reduce public sector administration costs;<br />

the project life-cycle costs and project<br />

delivery time can be reduced by using a<br />

PPP. It can also improve the quality and<br />

efficiency of infrastructure services and<br />

facilitate innovation in infrastructure<br />

development, among other things.<br />

Finally, as the global work force is growing<br />

both intellectually and in size, the Kenyan<br />

work force is not left behind. <strong>The</strong> average<br />

Kenyan employee is becoming more<br />

hardworking and extremely aggressive.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is an increase in both healthy and<br />

unhealthy competition in the workplace;<br />

sometimes making the environment very<br />

hostile, especially for the victims. Bullying<br />

and mobbing are just some of the work<br />

place evils quickly taking root in our<br />

Kenyan work places. We feature this rather<br />

disturbing state of affairs in the workplace<br />

section.<br />

We have also incorporated all your regular<br />

features, including health, travel, institute<br />

news and pen off in this fascinating<br />

Journal. Enjoy!<br />

Mbugua Njoroge<br />

Editor<br />

JULY - AUGUST <strong>2017</strong> 3

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