NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 27 – Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei has differed with Trade and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria over his China Square supermarket stance.
CS Kuria issued a deportation warning to the owner of the mall at Kenyatta University, Lei Cheng.
He had stated that the government is ready to facilitate the investor set up a manufacturing plant in Kenya as opposed to running a wholesale or retail
business competing with locals.
However, on his twitter handle, Sing’oei told foreign investors not to be apprehensive because the country’s investment regime is non-discriminatory.
“No lawful investment actor irrespective of their nationality- should be apprehensive because the country’s investment regime is non arbitrary and non-discriminatory,” he said.
His sentiments come even as the China Square management announced a closure of the business until further notice to address the rising challenges.
Belgut Member of Parliament who also differed with the Trade CS indicated that the decision which will remove the competitive advantage in the country will be detrimental to the country’s economy.
“Investment can go anywhere. The governments job is to attract it. As soon as we start implementing the laws haphazardly or to suit a certain narrative, we totally lose our competitive advantage,” he said.
The decision also sparked controversy among Kenyans online who accused the government of mishandling the issue in what could discourage foreign investment in the country.
Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi who also spoke out on the issue indicated that Kenyan policies should not have “a racist” undertone and that CS Kuria was obviously wrong in his onslaught against Lei Cheng.
“CS Moses Kuria is obviously wrong in his onslaught against Mr Lei Cheng of China Square. ‘Kenya is open for business’ is Kuria’s mantra, yet he is at war with Cheng for succeeding in his business model (selling cheapest),” Abdullahi tweeted on Sunday.
China closed indefinitely on Sunday after Chinese businessman Lei Cheng announced the move hours of escalating drama following deportation threats by Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria.
“As a supermarket, we are unable to handle the high volume of traffic, which has become a severe concern for the public safety of all our customers, we are arranging more security guards onsite,” China Square said in a statement.
The supermarket also cited inability to provide sufficient payment processing facilities, a situation it noted had resulted in long queues which had negatively impacted customer experience.
Earlier on Lei had dismissed calls for him to close shop as malicious.
Lei said his business is compliant to all legal requirements.
“My business is legal and is centered on health competition,” he said. “We followed all government requirements for setting up a business and a here to break monopolies.”
Lei blamed his accusers saying they were seeking to perpetuate the continued exploitation of the Kenyan consumer by rogue businesspersons.
“My business is legal and is centered on health competition,” he said. “We followed all government requirements for setting up a business and a here to break monopolies.”
