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As we progress in any form of elections it ’ s imperative that corporates and the larger business community solidly support initiatives leading to good governance and selection of leaders who have the qualities of championing change and economic development . harm in creating great Corporate Social Responsibility in educating customers about the roles and functions of leadership . What is the role of a Governor and how does it affect the way business is done ? What is the role of the local MCA and why is this a more important role to the citizen ?
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The Private Sector And Elections

By Pauline Warui

Can the private sector join the call to provide good governance and citizen experience during elections ?

For a long time , professionals have been sold the narrative that they should not indulge in the selection of political leadership as they will be deemed biased . They prefer to manage and protect their customers to ensure that they align with the winning side at all times . This is despite the fact that businesses are most affected by the national leadership that steers the economic prowess of our country .
As we progress in any form of elections it ’ s imperative that corporates and the larger business community ignore these theories and solidly support initiatives leading to good governance and selection of leaders who have the qualities of championing change and economic development .
It ’ s time to call out bad leadership . Organizations will selfishly declare profits and thank their customers profusely but will not come out to assist during the election process . These voters are still their customers but during the campaigning period most brands will quietly handover the customers to the ways of the politicians .
Big brands will meet in boardrooms and discuss their revenue strategies around the election period without safeguarding their customers choices . They will map out product lines and route to market strategies aligning with the campaign findings on the ground . They will make the most out of this period without caring about the outcome of the elections and most brands have the famous line of working with the Government of the day .
Instead of aligning with their customers , they will have endless meetings to align with the winning team as the brand has a futuristic outlook and must survive ... ’ whoever wins ’. They will pledge alignment to all leaders with a sizeable crowd and pledge their loyalty so that they can be able to know the decision makers for business opportunities or business continuity e . g . at county levels .
Impacting the Process
But what can businesses do at the period of choosing new leaders without being prejudiced ?
Customer Civic Education
Though this still remains a heavily Government led initiative , there is no

As we progress in any form of elections it ’ s imperative that corporates and the larger business community solidly support initiatives leading to good governance and selection of leaders who have the qualities of championing change and economic development . harm in creating great Corporate Social Responsibility in educating customers about the roles and functions of leadership . What is the role of a Governor and how does it affect the way business is done ? What is the role of the local MCA and why is this a more important role to the citizen ?
Business Environment
What are the conditions governing business environments if your customers are businesses ? There is a massive opportunity for bigger brands to educate the SMEs and MSMEs during an election period . This will create more awareness around selection of leaders who are able to deliver the right policies and negotiate with regulatory authorities where there are issues .
Case in point would be selection of leaders who can be able to articulate the need for trade challenges such a multi licensing for businesses . How do businesses operate inter county or even beyond borders with simple registration processes and reduced nontariff barriers ? As I write this , I was shocked to hear small fish traders in Kisumu telling me they prefer to get their Omena fish from Uganda as it ’ s cheaper and more profitable despite the transport costs .
The private sector can create this kind of awareness through donations to training firms or other relevant institutions and business associations without direct involvement to avoid biases .
Volunteering Good Leaders
I often imagine that the private organizations have good leaders with the right leadership skills and qualities . However , in most instances , corporate leaders who have moved to Government or ventured into politics have courted disaster
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