Lobby urges MPs to preach peace

The business community wants MPs to ensure the violence witnessed after the 2008 elections is not repeated during next year’s polls.

Kenya Private Sector Alliance(Kepsa) Vice-Chairman and head of the Mkenya Daima campaign Vimal Shah issued the appeal during the conference on peaceful elections held in Mombasa on Friday.

Mr Shah said there was need to restore hope among Kenyans because according to various surveys, majority are committed to avoiding a repeat of the post-election violence.

“Mkenya Daima aims to ask all parties involved to maintain sobriety and seeks a peaceful transition to whoever wins the elections, ” said Mr Shah.

The Mkenya Daima campaign aims to involve all stake holders in efforts to ensure there is peace in the electioneering period and Friday's participation in the conference was part of an initiative to engage opinion leaders on the same.

Mr Shah also urged politicians to exercise political maturity and avoid making inflammatory comments that may cause instability in the country.

“The ongoing political rallies in various parts of the country should be platforms to preach peace and not divide Kenyans,” he added.

The business community lost more than Sh10 billion during the 2007-2008 violence. This is excluding the number of people who died and the negative publicity the chaos generated.

Foreign investors want to invest in the country’s infrastructure, energy and gas but can only do so if there is a stable business environment.

This, Mr Shah added, must be safeguarded at all costs.

“You are the people that the country is looking up to help Kenya become the most competitive economy in Africa and beyond,” added the vice-chairman. While the Mkenya Daima campaign is steered by Kepsa, it brings on board various partners in the civil society, media, students, musicians and “ Kenyans of goodwill.”

This campaign will link up with all other campaigns whose goal is to ensure peaceful elections and prosperity in Kenya.