Moses Kuria: Kenya is open for business, not dumping

Kuria first hinted at a move to buy out the lease of China Square, and hand the premise to Kenyan traders. 

“We welcome Chinese investors to Kenya as manufacturers not traders,” he said. 

The sentiments from the trade CS has since sparked controversy, with a section of Kenyan leaders accusing him of Xenophobic prejudice towards the investor. 

“Our policies should not have "a racist" undertone. CS @HonMoses_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),” lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi remarked. 

While also differing with Kuria, Foreign Affairs PS Korir Sing’oei said; “No lawful investment actor- irrespective of their nationality- should be apprehensive because the country's investment regime is non arbitrary & non discriminatory.”

In response to the concerns, Kuria has now stated that “Kenya is open for business but Kenya is not open for dumping.”

This comes after the Trade CS offered to assist China Square owner to set up a manufacturing plant in Kenya. 

Instead of retailing, Kuria said the investor will have a distribution partnership with local traders. 

Currently, the stand-off has resulted in China Square halting its operations at Unicity and “give a cooling down period.”