Nairobi — Businesses in Nairobi have remained positive about resumption in activities as the election period comes to an end.
This after a slowdown in activity since last week as most Nairobians left to upcountry while others stayed home as the country prepared for the August 9 election.
Emily, who owns a restaurant along Muindi Mbingu Street, noted that she was forced to close her business on Monday(yesterday) as the country was waiting for the announcement of the presidential results by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
However, she remained optimistic that her business will gain momentum as the electioneering period comes to a close.
"All is well now; there are no issues in town. Today, we have opened our businesses and we hope going forward, the business environment will thrive. Yesterday we did not get the money we usually get on a daily basis but we are hopeful all will be well going forward," she stated.
Her sentiments were also echoed by Wiseman Isanya, a shoe shiner in the Central Business District (CBD) as he attributed the election period to have slowed down his business.
"Of late, the business has been down since people have not been coming to town, many offices have been closed because people were waiting for the announcement of the presidential results," he stated.
Just like Emily, he remained positive about his business picking up as the majority of Nairobians have returned back to their workplaces.
"But we hope as days go by as people have maintained peace, today there are more people in town compared to yesterday. We hope all will be well and by next week, our businesses would be back to normalcy," he added.
The transport sector has also been affected as a taxi driver Wycliffe Etyang who spoke to Capital FM noted a decrease in the number of clients as fewer people have been coming to town.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
He too noted they will have to stay in business as throwing in the towel won't solve the challenges they are experiencing.
Before the official announcement of the results of the presidential election results by the IEBC, there was a mass exodus of people from Nairobi town.
Past midday Monday, many businesses were closed as they were uncertain of the outcome of the highly contested presidential election that attracted four candidates; William Ruto of United Democratic Alliance (UDA), Raila Odinga of Azimio Coalition Party, George Wajackoyah of Roots Party and David Mwaure of Agano party.
The electoral agency announced Ruto as the president-elect after he garnered 7,176,141 votes accounting for 50.49 per cent of the total votes cast, followed by Odinga who garnered 6,942,930 votes (48.85 per cent), Wajackoyah got 61,969 votes (0.44 per cent) and Mwaure got 31,987 votes (0.23 per cent).
