When it comes to policy analysis, a delicate balance must be struck between the needs of various stakeholders. The primary objective is to provide evidence-based insights and recommendations that enable decision-makers to choose the most effective, efficient, and equitable course of action. Varied stakeholder input is always important in collecting evidence to achieve the correct outcomes and avoid unintended consequences. 

However, in recent years in Kenya, we have seen the development of policies, laws, and regulations where the majority of the input comes from Civil Society voices, to the exclusion of industry. This is especially in cases where the industry is viewed as likely to resist the proposed solutions. 

This approach to policymaking, where the stakeholders most affected are excluded from the initial decision-making process, often proves unsustainable in the long term, frequently resulting in protracted legal battles, including appeals to the Supreme Court, or the need for subsequent regulatory revisions to address gaps caused by the lack of industry input.

It is also important to note that CSOs tend not to have a vested interest in the outcome and are usually ideologically driven. This can sometimes result in positions that are less pragmatic or misaligned with the operational and commercial realities faced by industry stakeholders. Given that their funding is often driven by global organisations with certain agendas that may be misaligned with national realities. Kenyan policymakers have shown themselves very willing to adopt these positions without much probing, thus costing the country in terms of sustainable positions. The Draft Front of Pack Nutrition Labelling (FoPNL) and the Draft Restrictions on the Marketing of Foods High in Sugars, Fats, and Sodium to Children are well-intentioned regulations; however, industry stakeholders were hardly consulted during their drafting. Excluding industry during the drafting stage of policies or regulations and involving them only later often leads to several practical, economic, and operational harms. It is a sure recipe for poor policy design, conflict, and resistance. It eventually leads to economic risks and weak outcomes, such as low effectiveness due to informal circumvention and missed innovation. Industry backlash often stems not from resistance to change, but from the perceived unfairness of being excluded from the policymaking process from the onset. It is important to ask the right questions at the outset of a problem, and industry knows that this is not possible if the right players are not in the room from the beginning.