Business leaders address journalists at a press briefing held at the
Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi. PHOTO | HUDHEIFA ADEN | NMG
Summary
- Business leaders are now demanding that politicians allow the presidential rerun to take place at its scheduled time.
- Kepsa says protracted political period has been tough on business, affecting steel and cement sectors.
- A UN agency has cancelled a planned global prevention coalition meeting that was set to take place next week in Nairobi.
Kenya's private sector executives are now taking a tougher
stance against political leaders as they warn them over their harmful
political rhetoric, saying they have a duty to speak out when their
actions are a threat to the country's economic well-being.
Speaking
to journalists in Nairobi Monday, the business leaders - through
industry lobby Kepsa (Kenya Private Sector Alliance) - are demanding
that politicians allow the presidential rerun to take place at its
scheduled time while urging civility from leaders and Kenya's security
agencies.
"This protracted political period has not
been easy...order books remain soft, the real estate slowdown is
affecting steel and cement business," Kenya Association of Manufacturers
(KAM) chairperson Flora Mutahi said of the key sector.
The
country's business leaders are now vowing to speak truth to politicians
regarding the harm they’re doing to Kenya's economy, adding that they
will no longer remain silent.
"No one wins when an
economy comes to a halt...because of the negative impact on investment
and spending decisions, we have entered economic slowdown," Adam Smith
International associate director and Kepsa vice chair Patrick Obath
said.
The Kenya Tourism Federation (KTF) chairman
Mohamed Hersi also noted that international conference cancellations and
corporate distress were effects of Kenya's "dysfunctional politics".
The
move comes amid news that the United Nations Programme on HIV/Aids
(UNAids) has cancelled a planned global prevention coalition meeting
that was set to take place in Nairobi next week, citing political
tensions in the country.
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