Election Uncertainty Has Cost Kenya’s Economy KSh700bn – KEPSA

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) has said the last four months of electioneering period has cost private businesses up to KSh700 billion.

KEPSA further said that the situation risks getting out of hand with the current political uncertainty, further hurting the economy. The statement noted that private businesses employ about 1.8 million Kenyans which is about 71 percent of formal employment.

Read Also: Consumer Federation Of Kenya Wants IEBC To Postpone Repeat Election

“The harsh political climate has serious implications as medium, small and micro-enterprises employees about 85 percent of Kenya’s labor force”, Kepsa’s trustee Patrick Obath said.

“The education sector has also had its calendar disrupted and national examinations could suffer if the current political situation is not managed properly.”

The private sector group said the future looks bleak despite a good performance in 2015 when 90,200 jobs were created followed by 57,600 jobs in 2016.

It said the matatu sector was losing KSh75 million daily from disrupted services in counties such as Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay, Migori, Mombasa, and Nairobi, which were heavily affected by political demonstrations.

KEPSA’s statement also identified wholesale and retail sectors of the economy as the hardest hit businesses. It noted that street demos forced such businesses to shut down for fear of looting and destruction of property.

Read Also: Kenyan Elections: Implications for the Economy

In addition, KEPSA identified the loss of business in Kenya’s ports. It said landlocked countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and DRC Congo that rely on Kenya as their preferred transit point have diverted their goods to the more politically stable Tanzania.

The move of those businesses to Kenya’s southern neighbor, according to the group, has also hurt the long-distance truck and rail transport businesses as well as warehousing services.

The repeat presidential election is slated to hold on October 26 even as the opposition has withdrawn from the polls citing a lack of reforms from the electoral commission.