She resigned from her accountancy job at a local microfinance institution in June 2018 to concentrate on her dream business.
"I longed for this freedom and swore never to rely again on a 9 am to 5 pm employment schedule. I was drained after keeping to the same routine for almost a decade,'' Kemunto, a mother of three told the Star.
Although she encountered normal market entry challenges, the business picked up after a year, and made three orders in a month from Malaysia.
Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic struck the following year and things have never been the same again.
"The country's tax measures and trade policies that followed have been a slow puncture to the business and I'm sadly thinking of closing before Christmas. I have suffered enough,'' she says, trying hard to hide her pain.
She says that at least two businesses have been closing every month since June at the Bazaar Building.
Jeniffer Muthoni who has been distributing food to businesses around the Nyamakima area in downtown Nairobi says she is not ready to fill another debt book.
"I have filled four debt books in the past nine months. This has never happened since I pitched tent here in 2001. Some customers have since closed their businesses and disappeared in thin air. I'm left holding onto Sh69, 000 in debt'' she said.
"My most expensive meal goes for Sh180. I had five employees. I have since cut to three. The condition is worsening every passing day. Most of my remaining customers forego lunch. I now cook per order."
Their agonies are shared by hundreds of others who have taken to social media platforms to share their tribulations.
A post by X user, @KareyyTess had attracted 1,769 reposts, 100 quotes, 225 bookmarks and 5,261 likes by the time of going to press, illustrating just how bad the situation is like.
"Business is so bad. Our sales at work are going down every day. Everything is just not working. Ruto is killing us, man,'' the post reads.
At least 600 business operators responding to the post say they have already closed businesses or planning to hang boots before Christmas.
The majority are blaming the previous and present governments for their woes, especially high taxes, borrowing rates, currency fluctuation, and a host of volatilities pushing up the cost of living.
"I run an interior design business. I have been at it for about four to five years. It has never been this bad, even during Covid,'' @MwndeVetelo responded on @KareyyTess's post.
Although Kenya has experienced businesses close before, analysts fear that the situation might worsen going forward if the government fails to arrest the current situation.
A survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) showed 2.2 million micro and small businesses shut down in the five years ending 2016.
The figure is an equivalent of approximately 440,000 MSMEs closing yearly.
The latest report by UNDP in collaboration with the Micro Small Enterprise Authority (MSEA) shows that small businesses are closing at a faster rate compared to the period between April 2020 and April 2022.
At least 39.2 per cent of businesses opened in the past 18 months have closed compared to 19.3 per cent.
This is attributed to the high cost of credit and the rising cost of business that has cut buyers' spending power. The volatile geopolitical environment and political unrest are some of the other reasons given.
Technoserve, an international non-profit that promotes business solutions to poverty in the developing world has cautioned that more businesses will close in the coming days if the government doesn't intervene.
James Magero from the firm told the Star that the high socioeconomic temperature that saw young people storm the Parliament in protest against high taxation and corruption in government was just the beginning.
"The real fire is on the way if the country doesn't address issues raised by protestors. High taxes are suffocating businesses, forcing many out of jobs too. An idle, angry and hungry population is a huge threat to peace,'' he said.
Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry Salim Mvurya says the government is intervening and has since started to disburse funds to Saccos for onward lending to small businesses.
The funds are being channeled through Supporting Access to Finance and Enterprise Recovery (SAFER) project launched in March.
According to him, the money aims to increase access to financial services, enhance capabilities, and support the post-Covid-19 recovery of medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
On Wednesday, Murang’a-based Amica Sacco received a Sh300 million loan, becoming the first in the country to benefit from the state-backed credit scheme.
