Why Are Kenyan Business Moguls Joining The Mucky Political Waters?

The year that we started preparing for five years ago is finally here with us; 2022. This is the year that some people hear strange voices in their heads and mistake them for the “voice of the people” calling them to “serve and lead” from the slavery land to land of milk and honey.

It is the year of politics. The drums are already beating and have reached the crescendo. Kenyans are shaking their bodies to the rhythm and nobody knows what will happen on August 9, when Wafula Chebukati will blow the whistle.

Anyway, it is their time, time for politicians to speak. Time for Kenyans to see their Member of Parliament up close after five years. Time for the little man in the village to get something out of mheshimiwa or mhesh or call them any name you like.

Apart from the common names, some scary as always, there are new entrants into this year’s elections that have left the nation talking. Two business moguls have joined politics and people have been asking questions as to why they would choose to do that.

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The first one is Tabitha Karanja, the CEO, and Co-Founder of Keroche Breweries. She is in the race to capture the Senate seat for Nakuru County on a UDA ticket. It started as a joke. Many dismissed her but now the ground has started feeling her presence.

The second one is Captain Ronald Karauri, the CEO of the giant gaming company in Kenya, SportPesa. Karauri has announced that he is going for the Member of Parliament position for Kasarani. He announced it and people thought he was joking, but the man was as serious as the sun on a clear day.

Tongues have been wagging. People have been asking; “Why is Tabitha joining politics? Why can’t she stick to running her business? Why can’t she stick to brewing beer? Why does she want to kill her business by joining the dirty politics?”

Others have been asking: “What is wrong with Ronald Karauri? Isn’t he making more money at SportPesa already? What is he looking for in politics? Why can’t he just sit down and concentrate on SportPesa and make it bigger? Is he mad?”

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Tabitha Karanja and Ronald Karauri have one thing in common; both are business moguls who have tested the worst of business policies from the government of the day. At one time, SportPesa had to suspend all operations in Kenya after a sustained frustration from the government despite the immense investment that the company had made in supporting sports and talent in Kenya. The company was shut and some senior officials were ordered to leave the country.

Tabitha Karanja’s Keroche Breweries has never known peace. She has always been harassed, arrested, and always on the radar of the Kenya Revenue Authority. Keroche Breweries has been shut several times by the government through KRA, which is ironic coming from those who should be protecting businesses.

It is my opinion that these two have decided to join politics as a form of protest, a desperate move to join the system and change the policies from within. It is about being in a position to legislate for an environment that is friendly so that other businesses do not go through what theirs went or going through.

For years, we have been made to think and believe that politics are meant for losers, crooks, thieves, looters, murderers, and rapists while forgetting that the people we elect to those positions influence our lives and the country as a whole.

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Perhaps if we have people who understand the pain of SMEs, the pain of businesses joining politics, we will have policies that will reward other than punish, dialogue other than burn down, constructing other than deconstructing… Perhaps that is what we need.

Before you throw stones at these two, trying to “remind them where they should be,” ask yourself; are you proud of your President, Deputy President, Governor, Senator, Woman Rep, MP, and MCA? Are you proud of the decisions you made? Are you willing to change and make that right ama tuache kukusumbua akili?

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