The business community of Nairobi has suffered since the government impounded tons upon tons of goods from overseas. These goods were deemed fake by the government and it has seen containers worth millions of goods impounded and earmarked for destruction.
The business men whose goods are earmarked for destruction are irked by this act by the government . Here is a letter of lamentation by one such trader who has opted to vent out his pain by writing a letter addressing president Uhuru Kenyatta in regards to the state of his business since the impound of his goods.
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Am 32 years old now. I have lived in Kenya the whole of my life. I didn’t come from a rich family but I have struggled my way up….started an import business in Nyamakima Nairobi back in 2008. I was importing goods from CHINA & Dubai since then. My business did well, bought my first car, build a house, supported many upcoming entrepreneurs to make their first million and even educated my siblings from it. But when UHURU & RUTO came into power things started taking a nosedive in my business. Revenue declined drastically…..I used to make about Kshs 5Million in a bad month and upto Kshs 7-10Million in a good month in the years 2009-2015 Net Revenue. Biz was good then.
But from 2016 upto now….getting even Kshs 1Million in month is a struggle…NB: THIS is gross revenue not NET Revenue…..ukiweka rent ya all my shops na my office, staff salaries & other expenses, my friends at the end of the month I usually remain as broke as a church mouse….sometime the church mouse is richer than me coz kuna sadaka.
Now am contemplating closing all my shops and offices. I have about 250 employees who benefit from me directly in form of monthly salaries, about 730 independent sale agents countrywide and over 1000 families benefiting from my business directly every month.
It’s a pity….am closing down my business…A business I have done for the last 10 years. I can’t afford to run it any longer. Thanks to UHURUTO Government. Business Environment is no longer favourable. Am a wholesaler, I used to supply most of my retailers on credit and they would pay comfortably within 30 days and I supply them with more stocks. Now as we are taking most of my retailers have not paid me 10 months down the line. After 2017….Business collapsed. My retailers are not paying me their debts….They tell me that their customers are not paying too. Most of them have closed shop. The few remaining are struggling even to put bread on the table.
Now I have my clients owing me debts over Kshs 87 Million. They want to pay me but most can’t manage due to the prevailing business environment. For that result, I can’t manage to raise money to import more stocks. The last stock I did import from China…last year October, I borrowed money from a Local bank. When the consignment reached at the port of Mombasa, it’s was declared counterfeits by KRA. NB: Its has all certification by KEBS even their Agent in China. The cargo was impounded. Now the bank has given me 14 days NOTICE to vacate my own house, they wan’t to Auction it since I used it as collateral. REASON…I did not pay my loan. I have a young family…My wife and 2 children…tutaenda wapi.
Thanks UHURU and your government for putting me down financially. Am a KIKUYU just like you. I used to do well before you came in power, now am on the road to poverty.
***Thanks UHURU***
Because of that, am starting a REVOLUTION to remove you from power. The hashtag for this movement will be #UhuruOutofStateHouse. By killing my business,you also killed my SOUL which was my source of livelihood and the pillar to my manhood. This is a business I loved, and struggled to build from the scratch and run it for the last 10 years successfully.
For that reason alone, I do not fear to die. I don’t want to become a President and I have no such ambition whatsover. All I want is to see a President who is ready to fight corruption and improve the business environment for us entrepreneurs.
Consequently, Am ready to die for for others to achieve this Economic Freedom. Kindly Send all your troops…..DCI, Police, GSU, NIS & KDF. Tell them to KILL & silence me. But I assure you that within 12 months from now, you will be out of power. #BloodlessCoup
Watch this space…………………………………
**It’s Well with my Soul**