Losses upon Losses

Every 5 years, we go through this cycle. If quantified, I believe that we lose $1Billion every election year as a conservative estimate due to election jitters, slow down and melt downs like we are having now. Not to mention that we are a poor country with ‘no front or back’

Also, we can’t forget the numerous other ways that government losses revenue like common mwananchi avoiding and evading tax, citizens from the high and mighty politicians to the hoi polloi engaging in corrupt deals to name but a few vices.

Are we inherently stupid or were we cursed?

[SIZE=5]Matatu industry records Sh800 million loss for the last five days[/SIZE]

By Lonah Kibet | Published Tue, August 15th 2017 at 00:00, Updated August 15th 2017 at 16:49 GMT +3 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share on Facebook Share on Twitter The matatu industry has in the past one week lost an estimated Sh700 million due to the tension in the country following the August 8 election. Matatu Welfare Association Chairperson Dickson Mbugua said they were staring at an additional Sh300 million loss if normalcy is not restored in the next few days. ALSO READ: Why August election will have longest ballot paper in history “If we go another three to four days, the loss will clock Sh1 billion. This is the money that we would have generated if we were to go on normal day-to-day PSV operations,” said Mr Mbugua. Resume duties He added: “We are appealing to workers, both in the corporate world and informal sector, to resume their duties so that these economic-related activities can move on.” Mbugua was, however, optimistic the situation would change given yesterday’s increased traffic in Nairobi. He urged both President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta and NASA leader Raila Odinga to dialogue for the sake of peace in the country. “We need our leaders because the peace that we enjoy in this country is in their hands. If tomorrow they decide to meet and discuss with their deputies on the issue of this impasse, I believe we will get an amicable solution so that the whole country can go back to normalcy,” he said. “We’ve had tensions in 1992, 1997 and 2007. In 2017, we don’t want to go back. It is very expensive to the country and humanity,” he added.
Read more at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001251383/matatu-industry-records-sh800-million-loss-after-general-election

[SIZE=5]Safaricom lost Sh400m due to elections[/SIZE]
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Safaricom lost approximately Sh400 million due to disruption of business during the elections last month.

Safaricom chief executive officer Bob Collymore on Friday attributed the loss to the closure of a number of M-Pesa outlets in areas regarded as violence hotspots across the country during the period.

He said despite the loss of M-Pesa revenue, there were some gains from the extensive use of the internet when Kenyans stayed away from work.

“What happened is that in slums, there were a number of businesses that closed and this had a negative impact on M-Pesa performance,” Mr Collymore told a media briefing on the sidelines of the firm’s annual general meeting,

He, however, said uncertainty looms ahead of the upcoming repeat presidential election that is scheduled for October 17.

M-Pesa is the firm’s largest revenue growth driver.

It generated revenue of Sh55 billion in the year ending March, rising by a third from Sh41.5 billion the previous year.

[SIZE=6]Kenya businesses prepare for short-term slowdown amid fresh elections[/SIZE]

Duncan Miriri
6 MIN READ

FILE PHOTO: Kenyan workers prepare men’s underwear at the Hela intimates export processing zone (EPZ) limited factory in Athi River, near Nairobi, Kenya, July 27, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo
NAIROBI (Reuters) - It’s much easier to snag a seat in Nairobi’s popular Strollers bar these days - a problem that manager Stephen Ngatia partly blames on Kenyan consumers hoarding their money during the turbulent election period.

Monthly sales have fallen by half since June, as cautious customers saved cash in case the Aug. 8 elections turned violent and they had to leave town fast. Many remember the violence that followed the disputed 2007 election, when 1,200 people died.

The August polls were relatively peaceful, but a ruling by the Supreme Court nullifying the presidential race and ordering a re-run means many consumers are still staying home and saving. The new election is scheduled for Oct. 17.

“Because of the repeat election, people don’t want to spend their money. We are not expecting a recovery until maybe in December,” Ngatia told Reuters.

Kenya’s capitalist tradition, stability and role as a Western ally in a region roiled by conflict have made it a favored East African headquarters for international firms.

But the prolonged election period is slowing growth in the country, East Africa’s richest per capita. The government projected the economy would expand by 5.9 percent this year, but first quarter growth was at 4.7 percent, mainly due to drought and a slowdown in private sector credit growth.

“The general election spreads across two quarters and it is not clear when political tensions will ease,” said Irungu Nyakera, a principal secretary in the ministry of planning.

[SIZE=4]SLOW DOWN ACROSS SECTORS[/SIZE]
The slowdown affected business sectors in different ways. Hospitality, retail and transport all suffered as consumers stayed home. But tourism and agriculture, two of the main foreign exchange earners, were largely unaffected.

The Nairobi bourse (NSE.NR) lost 130 billion shillings ($1.27 billion) over two sessions after the Supreme Court judgment. It has since recouped about half of that but the blue chip index, the NSE-20 .NSE20, is still 300 points below its year-high of 4114.01 points hit on Aug. 15.

The biggest firm by market capitalization, telecoms operator Safaricom (SCOM.NR), said it lost $3-4 million in revenue from its mobile financial services business, M-Pesa, during last month’s vote.

East African Breweries (EABL.NR), controlled by Britain’s Diageo (DGE.L), said business slowed over elections but declined to give details.

The retail sector was also hit, said Wambui Mbarire, the head of the Retail Trade Association of Kenya. Customers had stuck to buying basics like bread, milk and sugar, where the margins were thinnest, she said.

The transport sector lost money, despite a rush of voters traveling to their home villages, as other fearful citizens stayed home. Fuel consumption in August declined by 10-12 percent compared to July 2017 due to the slowdown, said the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), the main business lobby.

FILE PHOTO: A trader dries fish skeleton for sale on a wire mesh ahead of the Presidential election in Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya August 6, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo
Demand for cement, estimated by industry executives at 500,000 tonnes a month, dropped by 15 percent in the weeks around the Aug. 8 vote, said Pradeep Paunrana, the chief executive of ARM Cement (ARM.NR), a leading producer.

“A lot of the construction sites were closed and the retail distribution chain, stockists were not keeping any more stock,” Paunrana told Reuters.

In the port city of Mombasa, a regional gateway, cargo leaving the port dropped to 70 percent of normal levels during election week, said Bernard Osoro, corporate affairs manager at the port. It has since recovered to almost normal.

Many employers anticipate a similar slowdown when the elections are repeated, said Phyllis Wakiaga, chief executive of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, representing 1,000 companies.

Slideshow (2 Images)
“We have seen people take a wait and see approach in terms of making serious investment,” Wakiaga told Reuters.

The manufacturing sector contributes 10 percent of the annual economic output of $70.5 billion.

[SIZE=4]POLITICS HEATING UP[/SIZE]
So far, veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga has rejected the Oct. 17 date for a re-run with President Uhuru Kenyatta. Odinga wants several senior election board staff members to resign, and to be given access to the election board’s computer servers before polls are held.

On Tuesday, opposition lawmakers boycotted Kenyatta’s opening of parliament, saying he is a lame duck president. Hate speech has also spiked: there were three times as many incidents in the week after the judgment than during the whole 10-week-long campaign, the government said.

Both sides claim to have won the vote, and are encouraging supporters to ensure they do again, setting the scene for a potential confrontation. Any prolonged clashes could be a disaster for Kenya’s economy.

After the 2007 vote, the violence sent annual economic growth crashing to 1.7 percent in 2008 from 7.1 percent the previous year.

This week delegates from the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, the main business lobby, went to meet Kenyatta to express the group’s concerns. The president sought to reassure them, saying: “Let business continue. No politician will be allowed to interfere with peace and stability.”

But businessmen said the economy would not pick up until elections were over.

“With prolonged electioneering … the country is expected to witness slowdown in business in various sectors that can lead economic decline,” their statement said.

editing by Katharine Houreld and Peter Graff

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[SIZE=6]Kenya’s election redo will cost taxpayers an extra $117 million[/SIZE]
https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/rts1bbu3-e1505121516229.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=2603
Overseeing another expensive redo. (Reuters/Thomas Mukoya)
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Abdi Latif Dahir
September 11, 2017 Quartz Africa

Kenya is set to hold another expensive election—with taxpayers expected to foot the $117 million needed for the upcoming presidential poll.

Ezra Chiloba, the chief executive officer of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) said the October election will cost about 12 billion shillings, most of which will go towards facilitating human resources and logistics. In an interview with The EastAfrican newspaper, Chiloba said they will present the budget to treasury officials this week.

The announcement comes barely a month after Kenya held one of Africa’s most expensive elections. The Aug. 8 general elections cost taxpayers a whopping $480 million, with the largest allotment going to the electoral commission. The IEBC used over $413 million to hire personnel, procure election materials, conduct awareness campaigns, as well as collecting and transmitting the results of votes for the presidency, national assembly, female representatives, governors, senate, and county assembly members.

But after the opposition leader Raila Odinga challenged the results of the polls, Kenya’s supreme court annulled the outcome of the presidential election on Sept. 1 and ordered a fresh vote in 60 days. Incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta had won over 54% of the now nullified vote, defeating Odinga with a margin of 1.4 million votes. As the new election date of Oct. 17 looms closer, the overall amount needed for the presidential poll might even be higher if one factored the amount other government institutions like the police and intelligence services will need to ensure that everything runs smoothly on election day.

Following the annulment, many observers are now wondering if the beleaguered electoral commission will be able to hold a free and credible election. Internal wrangles within the commission have surfaced over the last few week, threatening to derail the Oct. 17 elections. A memo alleged to have come from the commission’s chairman Wafula Chebukati to the CEO Chiloba was also leaked online. In it, Chebukati demands Chiloba to explain why they purchased satellite phones that never worked, why hundreds of polling stations didn’t send results of the presidential election to the national tallying center, why an account created in his name was used to log into the elections management system, and why some election result forms lacked key security features.

Some IEBC commissioners have distanced themselves from the memo, but Chiloba has said they were “looking at the issues raised in the memo and we will respond in the interest of the public.”

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this is the last bad election as in future, no candidate joshua mwitu= peaceful elections

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it’s quite unfortunate how we come to a standstill during elections

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Hapo kwa Safcom, need some more info for a common mwananchi to know.
People were calling and browsing, hata hiyo mpesa they claim to be the material revenue source. Infact niliomba mshwari loan sana that period…up to now. Unalipa leo unakopa leo!

Hii cult following ya Joshua ndiyo chida. The other day I tried convincing a Canaan voyager ati we should have done a recount. Wacha matusi ianze, mara oh watoto walipiga kura, oh server, oh tuliiba, oh wasapere ni wezi. And this is a colleague and a PHD candidate. Hapo nikaona hatuwezi elewana. Na kwa sababu ya kuniita mwizi, nikasema, TUTAIBA TENA, meza wembe.

BTW, I forgot to add RWNEEEEEEBP.

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The framers of the Constitution did not have in mind people that would refuse to accept losing elections. Nobody in their right mind would. But these ones are even proud that they can cause the country to grind to a halt.

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thats a mistake i never make…discussing politics with a nasa fanatic face to face is likely to be courting death… heard of 2 stabbings by nasarites at grogon following political discussions. restrain myself to online only when it comes to politics with the canines

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Hawa jamaa itabidi we drag them, literally screaming and kicking back to reality, that they were defeated. We will hand them a humiliating defeat next month. Na mtu asiniambie nikue magnanimous ama whatever magma they would like us to have in victory. Nitachomelea msumari!

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flimsy excuses for failures directly linked to muthamaki govt

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na mimi, mtu ajaribu kuniambia’ be moderate in your celebrations’ he will have to explain whether the other side were moderate following maragas judicial coup. we saw them… old women even stripping in public…ghai!

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BTW this thing is really sad coz when you start discussing politics with friends you thought were smart, unapata they believe everything that comes out of Rao’s mouth and they decisively label you a tribalist coz you support Uhuhru

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sasa imagine if by some devilish way Rao won and then Maraga nullified the results. I can’t even imagine the chaos

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Please explain

Good luck.

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Its only tribalism when its wasapere. Hawa jamaa wengine are allowed to form ‘community groups’. Kama ni sisi inasemekana ni ‘tribal group’.

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Why do y’all think Uhuru is going to win? There once was a guy called Drumpf…

Moral: don’t count your chicks before they hatch.

:eek::D:D:D…Uko na jokes.

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:D:D i wasn’t counting on any explanation

The bourse lost 100b after Maraga’s ruling
.

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Elaborate. Kuna KiNoogle kingine hapa kilikua kinasema wako marginalized. Kwenu kunajengwa barabara na cendro gafament?

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