Africa Focus: Kenya's post election keeps calm as business resume
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E-mail Xinhua, March 11, 2013
Kenya remained calm for the third day on Monday after the historic general elections last week produced the country's fourth president.
Millions of Kenyans had suspended all their normal activities since voters cast ballots on March 4 and anxiously waited for five days for the final results of a hotly contested election until the results were announced on Saturday.
However, the early Monday morning traffic snarl up in a busy Nairobi highway could not deter Francis Moturi from holding firm at the steering wheel as he perused Monday newspapers to catch up with current affairs.
Traffic police had a hectic time controlling impatient motorists heading to work on Monday after a week-long break when Kenya held peaceful but highly competitive general election.
"Now that we have a president-elect and his deputy, the country should move as we wait the formation of a new government. Campaigns are behind us and it is time to resume work and build the nation," Moturi told Xinhua at a busy highway intersection.
The middle-aged auditor in a multinational company had taken a week's leave to vote in the country side and like many urban folks, Moturi yearned for peace during the electioneering to avoid a repeat of 2007 post election skirmishes.
"We all know Kenya is an economic hub in this region and a peaceful political transition is critical to economic stability. I am happy that we conducted our affairs smoothly in 2013 and investor confidence will shoot up," Moturi said.
Most businesses which remained closed last week as well as public transport operators in various parts of the East African nation took their vehicles on the road on Monday.
Kenyans appeared to have heeded an earlier call by business lobbies to resume work after the March 4 general election as evidenced by beehive of activity on Monday in major highways and streets, offices and business premises.
The president-elect, Uhuru Kenyatta made a similar plea on Saturday when he stressed that elections are over and all citizens should return to their places of work to build the economy.
Investors in the East African nation especially in urban areas made massive losses as the East African nation anxiously awaited the outcome of the March 4 general elections.
The worst affected are thousand of small-scale traders, who have not opened their businesses for the past week, and public transport vehicle operators, who have kept their vehicles off the roads, as anxiety grips Kenya.
Most of the traders said they were waiting for announcement of the presidential results before they can go on with their daily activities. In the country's major towns and cities normal business activities have resumed, both in the city centre and the suburbs.
At Saraj Cybercafe in Nairobi's Central Business District, Sam Njenga, a software engineer, was busy attending to customers who sought diverse services.
The young software engineer told Xinhua that business had come to a standstill the previous week as many clients stayed at home to monitor the tallying of presidential votes.
"We opened on Thursday but only skeleton staff reported to work and again, businesses had reduced to bare minimum since most of our clients and suppliers were out of town waiting for the announcement of presidential results," said Njenga.
He was optimistic that business will be vibrant as the economy rebound after peaceful elections.
"Many Kenyans are hoping that the incoming government will focus on economic growth and hasten the implementation of policies that promote youth employment. We have abundant talent in the country that should be harnessed to revitalize our economy," Njenga told Xinhua.
The just concluded general elections in Kenya were hailed as free, fair and transparent by both local and international observers.
"There is no gainsaying that economic growth is tied to political stability and Kenya has just demonstrated that elections can be held peacefully and the country is able to soldier on despite torrents of doomsday predictions," a university student, Brian Gitau told Xinhua.
By midday, market stalls, supermarkets and banks in Nairobi's central business district, were a beehive of activity as Kenyans returned to work enmasse.
As city council workers removed campaign posters hanging on electricity poles, Peter Kamau, a shoe shiner, was chatting up with customers waiting for their turn to have their shoes polished.
The suited office workers had radiant expression on their faces as they resumed the task of nation building.
"One week is a long wait for most of us and we intend to double our input and recover the lost time. Otherwise, Kenya must move on to the next phase of economic development since we have a new president and members of parliament," an office messenger, Lucy Wamuyu told Xinhua.
Based on the expression on their faces as well as the body language, Kenyans appeared to have shed off post election blues to resume work and re-invigorate the economy after a week-long lull. Endi
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