Protect economy from political shocks

(Photo: Courtesy)

Last Friday’s announcement of a repeat presidential poll sent the stock market tumbling, causing the Kenyan shilling to lose against the dollar.

The reaction was instantaneous. Business thrives only in an environment of certainty and where the opposite obtains, there is bound to be what is known as panic sales.

Several factors account for this, the first being the prolonged period of not knowing what might come next. Traders having the Kenyan shilling would only feel safer offloading it off in favour of the steady dollar.

Elections in Africa are so volatile prudent businessmen do not take chances for fear of incurring huge losses. Secondly, the reaction of the incumbent is crucial. In our case the position taken by the head of state and his utterances only heighten fears because both sides of the political divide are digging in.

The back and forth over the ‘nusu mkate’ government and unmeasured utterances and attacks on the Judiciary can only cause more panic. Yet their single mindedness to retain or take power stops our leaders from seeing the bigger picture, it is all about them, never the country first.

Our economy is hardly out of the woods despite statistics that paint a glossy picture. The high cost of living attests to this.

Now that we are onto another round of politicking, politicians should watch their tongues lest they ruin the economic gains that the country has made gradually since the slump caused by terrorists attack on Kenya in 2014.