Nelson Koech the Belgut MP has told off Trade CS Moses Kuria over his stance on the China Square dispute saying it was ill-advised.
The MP said the issue challenges some of the promises the Kenya Kwanza government made to Kenyans while campaigning and by casting doubt on some businessmen, also portrays licensing institutions negatively.
“I think the minister was wrong on so many fronts. We must be people who attract investment. We came to power and one of the things we used to campaign was not to criminalise enterprise,” Koech said on Citizen TV on Monday.
He said the country needs to be careful in the direction it is following on matters of foreign investment to ensure that it does not create an unfair environment that will ward off the same investments Kenya needs.
“Let us allow everyone to operate. Let us allow Kenya to get products for a cheaper price. Let there be robust competition for us to get value for money,” he said.
Koech said Kuria's desire to protect the local traders is admirable but it needed to be carried out in a proper manner that does not affect others who are conducting their businesses in accordance with the law.
“Let him provide incentives for the people in Nyamakima without necessarily interfering with other businesses that are licensed and are operating legally in this country,” he said.
“That for me was off and I disagree with Moses. Let us encourage investors, let everyone come, and let them operate.”
Koech called on other businessmen from across the world to invest more in the country.
“We should go ahead and encourage many Chinese to compete with Kenyans. We cannot say we want to be a competitive country when we’re denying investors an opportunity to compete with the rest of this country,” Koech said.
"We must step up to the plate and we must compete with other countries."
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