A report released on Tuesday by Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has revealed that business enterprises in Nairobi County have been the biggest causality of Violent Extremism (VE).
Further analysis of the report also revealed that 69 per cent of large enterprises in Nairobi County have experienced VE compared to 59 per cent of small and 57 per cent of medium enterprises.
On average, according to the report, each business lost Sh.175, 396 worth of revenue following VE.
The average value of property lost through destruction of property per each affected business was estimated at Sh. 211, 684, with Nairobi County most affected after a VE incident with a total value of lost revenue estimated to as much as Sh.10 million per business.
The National Counter Terrorism Centre Director, Amb. Mark Kimani noted that the impact of VE has left many companies reeling from a substantial loss of revenue.
“The fact that the private sector is currently involved in VE interventions is encouraging. More still needs to be done in regards to leveraging existing opportunities for the sector to get more involved in supporting the initiatives,” said Kimani.
He further observed that Jihadist affiliate groups were the leading in VE in the country and called for their facilitators to be prosecuted.
“Kenya is trying to build an open society in condemning ethnocentrism and for that reason, our enemies are attacking us,” lamented Kimani.
The KEPSA CEO, Carole Kariuki on her part observed that private sector has developed measures aimed at mitigating against losses attributed to VE, key among them increasing security personnel manning businesses as well as investing in insurances to cover any business losses.
“Everybody suffers from extremism thus we must work hard and also support the ‘Nyumba Kumi’ initiative. Terrorism being a global phenomenon has led to substantial loss of revenue for businesses,” said Kariuki.
The Study by KEPSA in partnership with TIFA was undertaken to assess impact and effect of VE incidents took place between 10- 25 April 2018 and it used 357 samples. The study showed that some of the causes of VE included structural motivators like corruption, individual drivers and enabling factors such as access to weapons.
By Valencia Nasimiyu/Elizabeth Wambui
