The business community in Narok County wants politicians to be careful with their utterances as the country approaches general elections to avoid scaring away investors.
The Narok County Chamber of Commerce chairman David Mpatiany said the recent utterances by politicians on the just concluded by-elections were worrying and should be discouraged at all costs.
Mpatiany observed that the by-elections were not meant to divide people, but was an exercise to fill the constitutional mandate of filling vacant seats. “We are shocked that the by-elections conducted recently in parts of the country have spiked abusive language in social media platforms as some politicians are seen provoking violence by their utterances,” he said.
Mpatiany who spoke to the media in his Narok office lauded President Uhuru Kenyatta’s handshake with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga saying it cooled political temperatures in the country. “Politicians should be reminded that the president is a symbol of unity in the whole country and we are happy by the way he has united us despite our political and ethnical backgrounds,” said Mpatiany.
He therefore asked those competing for vacant seats in the coming by-elections to do so in a decent manner. “We want politicians to campaign peacefully for the Kiambaa Constituency Member of Parliament election. We condemn abusive language or utterances meant to divide the common mwananchi,” reiterated the chairman.
The renowned trader observed that instability in the country scares away investors who move to other countries hence affecting the economy. “The business community suffers a lot when there is instability in the country. This is why people who are campaigning for the Kiambaa by election seat should be very careful with their utterances so as not to cause tension in the country.
At the same time, he called on young people, women and persons living with disability to take advantage of the funds given by the government to start businesses or expand their already existing enterprises.
By Ann Salaton
