The Nakuru business community has lauded the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition party for calling off weekly anti-government protests.
Speaking to journalists, the traders said that the Kenyan economy was hurting, which put many businesses at risk of going under, if the demos persisted.
Led by Central Rift Matatu Owners Association Chairman Stephen Muli called on the leaders to ensure the talks are centred on the needs of the ordinary persons and their peaceful coexistence in the country.
Muli said that many sectors of the economy had been affected and that their resolve to hold bipartisan talks was a reprieve to them.
“There have not been serious protests in Nakuru but we have felt the impact. Nairobi is the gateway to other parts of the country and when unstable, everyone else feels the pinch,” Muli stated.
Muli who doubles as the chair of the Nakuru Business Community described the two leaders as selfless in their move noting that the country was confident that the talks would not flop.
He called on the two leaders to ensure they select selfless leaders to hold the talks in and outside Parliament warning that tasking hardliners would plunge the country back to chaos.
Ann Njihia, a business lady in Nakuru city also wants the state to develop an economic stimulus package to support the traders whose businesses were either looted or vandalized.
Njihia said some traders were servicing loans each month.
“It is our hope that the government and the opposition would find lasting solutions,” Njihia noted.
Njoroge Njuhi, however, claimed that they lost business due to limited travel.
“Most people shied and so we lost businesses both on Mondays and Thursdays,’’ he said.
The traders hoped President William Ruto and Opposition leaders led by Raila Odinga would find lasting solutions.
The concerns come at a time when the economy has reached a moral hazard, with the country going for more loans abroad.
