It is slightly over a week now since Kenyans went to the ballot to elect their leaders for the next 5 years. Given what Kenyan elections have been over the years, it is no secret that there were jitters in almost all sectors of the economy, with many companies pretty much closing off their budgets until they got an assurance of what direction the country was taking. And they cannot be blamed. The electioneering atmosphere in our country has always come along with tension and this is something I hope we’ll be able to beat with time.
Luckily this time round,and despite unfortunate incidents around the country, Kenyans snapped back to work pretty fast. Sure there was some lull in business as claims of hitches in vote tallying started floating around but for the most part people just went back to earning their daily keep. For example, operations at what we can comfortably call the largest muscle in the coastal city of Mombasa had slowed down for some time and this brought about some backlog especially in the grain, sugar and fertilizer handling section. Operations were slow because for some days there were fewer workers. But KPA yesterday reported that loaders are back to work and operations have already begun to clear the backlog and move forward hence with normal schedules.
It was also good to see that some leaders were fast to ask their followers to go back to work. Like Kisumu Governor elect Anyang Nyongo here asking Kisumu business owners to open their businesses in order to avoid a slump in the local economy. An increasing number of Governors are also rejecting extravagant packages and directing the moneys to better courses in their areas of jurisdiction. These are signs of a country on the move despite the elections. Raila Odinga’s decision to rightfully take his grievances to the Supreme Court could not have come at a better time because I believe it cooled tensions in some parts of the country and those who haven’t gotten back to the daily grind can do so as we wait for the decision of the courts.
The business environment is back to normal after the August 8th elections https://t.co/qPhchlupml via @EpikKenyan #KenyaMovingForward
— FemmeHub (@FemmeHub) August 15, 2017
We’re headed to more and more elections in future and I pray that the country will not be brought almost to its knees due to elections. That election day becomes just another day in our lives without people having to do so much in preparation and having to lose even a day of work. Knowing Kenyans and the speed with which the electorate is maturing politically, I know that the answer to this prayer is not far off.
