This archive report was first published on 19 October 2019.
On Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta reiterated his resolve to support local car manufacturers, emphasizing the need to safeguard their interests against unfair competition.
Speaking during the launch of a Toyota Hilux assembly plant in Mombasa, linked to Associated Vehicle Assemblers (AVA), the President noted that local manufacturing industries are crucial for economic growth and job creation.
However, he lamented that these industries are being adversely affected by imported goods, which he blamed on the judicial system's perceived sympathy towards rogue business people at the expense of local companies.
“Those who will listen to them let them know it is our youths they are making to suffer, it’s our children they are denying jobs, it’s our economy they are fighting,” he cautioned.
The President's remarks echo his order issued on March 13, 2019, directing state agencies to purchase cars assembled locally instead of importing vehicles.
During the event, President Kenyatta, accompanied by French President Emmanuel Macron, commissioned a locally assembled vehicle, Peugeot 3008, SUV by the PGA Group based in Thika partnering with Kenya Vehicle Assemblers.
President Kenyatta stated, “We want to ensure Kenyan tax goes first to purchase products made from our country by our people and we will not relent. I’m very clear on that. Even if they go to court 20 times you cannot bypass someone who sells his products in Kenya and go to buy outside. They can go everywhere they want,”
