The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) has put in place adequate measures to sensitise members of the public against targeting businesses during political agitations which mostly turn violent.
Nyanza Regional Chief Executive Officer Ben Kitoto said that such measures target local residents of the six counties that make up the greater Nyanza region including Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay, Migori, Kisii and Nyamira.
He said that the chambers had embarked on a sensitisation program targeting to reach youths from the areas that are prone to violent attack on business premises whenever there are political upheavals that end up in violence and destruction.
“Our main focus is on the four counties of Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay and Migori where we have witnessed a large scale of business destruction during such high political temperatures. The areas of Nyamira and Kisii are relatively safe,” he said.
He said that part of the sensitisation program involved being hosted on both local and national radio stations, as well as talking to the residents on the importance of respecting and securing other people’s businesses and premises.
Kitoto further disclosed that the latest spate of violence witnessed during the demonstrations called by the opposition party Cord against the IEBC saw both small scale and large scale businesses either destroyed or looted by riotous mobs especially in the four counties mentioned.
“What we saw was the woman who sells bananas by the road side lose her stock as demonstrators ate all of it forcefully as well as huge supermarket outlets have their windows shattered and goods looted,” he said.
Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma recently led other political leaders from the region in denouncing violence that targeted the business community during demonstrations.
He called on the locals to learn how to agitate for their rights, while at the same time respecting other people’s rights to own property and do business in the lakeside town.