Changamwe Member of Parliament Omar Mwinyi has urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to help address the litany of challenges that investors in the port city of Mombasa are facing.
Speaking during the flagging off of Kenya's first shipment of oil to China, the legislator appealed to the Head of State to keenly look into the frustrations of the business community in Mombasa.
"We have problems that investors in Mombasa are facing and those problems are manifesting themselves in matters pertaining to employment and we would like you, your Excellency, to look into those issues keenly. (Tuna matatizo ya wafanyi biashara katika Mombasa na hayo matatizo yanakabili watu wetu kwa upande wa mambo ya ajiri na tungependa mweshimiwa rais uweze hili swala uliangalie kwa makini)," the Changamwe MP said.
The legislator said local leaders are being blamed for not adequately representing the interests of the business community.
He further noted that he raised the issues with the president so that his constituents could see that he was representing their interests.
Mwinyi's remarks come amid an outcry over an order that containers form Mombasa be transported on the Standard Gauge Railway.
Owners of trucks decried the move by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), that it would significantly hurt their businesses and trigger job losses.
The transport sector is a major source of employment for the locals.