The decision by Keroche CEO Tabitha Karanja to vie for the senatorial seat in Nakuru has received the backing of elders and traders in the county.
The leaders lauded the decision saying the brewer’s past experience could help traders and investors leap higher in their businesses.
Speaking over the weekend after hosting the over 300 elders, traders and the clergy, Karanja said for years those working in the corporate world had shied from politics.
She said she was ready to join politics so that she could advance the interests of manufacturers and investors in the Senate.
“For years we have kept away from politics but it’s time that our voices were heard and we made sure that we have policies that cushion and support investors,” she said.
The CEO said Nakuru has high potential in agriculture and farmers need support and better policies to increase production and profits.
“I will soon be launching my manifesto which includes improving agro-business and enacting policies that support traders and investors so that we can create more jobs,” she said.
Karanja was however coy on the party that she would use to vie saying she was still consulting and engaging various political leaders.
A Kalenjin elder Joseph Ngetich said they were impressed by Karanja's contribution to the economy through her Naivasha based brewery.
“The efforts, investment and technology invested in this factory says a lot about the leadership of Karanja and hence the decision to back her,” he said.
This was echoed by former Nakuru mayor Benson Mwangi who said the CEO had made Keroche one of the largest breweries in the country.
“The biggest challenge we have as a country is electing leaders of political parties instead of one’s capability to perform,” he said.
The chairman of Nakuru small-scale traders Simon Sangare said the sector had been forgotten and victimised for years by respective leaders.
“Karanja has undergone suffering as she moulded Keroche to what it is and I am sure she will remember the small-scale traders once elected into office,” he said.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
