Kenya settles down

The Kenyan situation appears to be settling down and the government has stepped in to give some property owners relief.

It appears as if the Kenyan situation may be on its way to peace and reconciliation.

Agreements have been formed between the ruling and opposition parties in Kenya that would see the stop to the violence in the country and this makes everyone involved very happy. If the agreements are ratified, the violence could stop very quickly and the process of rebuilding the shattered country could be on the table in as little as a few days.

Already, one move has been put into place by the Kenyan government that comes as extremely comforting to many of the people involved. According to the All Africa news service, the Kenyan government will be stepping in to help owners of small businesses that had lost property to destruction and pillage during the violence that went on in the wake of the most recent election.

This help will materialise in the form of a fund set up by the government that will provide funds for the reconstruction of much of the property in the country. Any small business owner in the country that has been the victim of property destruction would very likely qualify to get some money and while it would not cover the entire rebuilding process, it would very likely represent a significant amount.

There is no word on whether foreign investors in property will be getting the same fund, although at the moment it looks very unlikely. Small businesses make up approximately 96% of registered businesses in Kenya and they employ about three quarters of the total labour force within the country. In other words, this was something that the Kenyan government had to do in order to protect the country’s economic interests.

But, with insurance companies not covering damages that were due to political events for foreign property investors, it is unlikely at the moment that the government would step in and help. Some small businesses are located on property plots with foreign investment in them and therefore the government’s current policy will help some of the overseas property investors that are active in the Kenyan market.

But most property investors in Kenya that are of a foreign nature will very likely have to suck up the losses and rebuild in the wake of the violence that has plagued that country for the last few months.

BOOKMARK THIS PAGE (What is this?)