NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 26 — Chinese businessman Lei Cheng who owns the China Square, a wholesale and retail store at Kenyatta University’s Unicity Mall, has dismissed calls for him to close shop as malicious.
Lei, who announced the temporary suspension of operations Sunday following a statement by Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, said his business is compliant to all legal requirements.
“My business is legal and is centered on health competition,” he said. “We followed all government requirements for setting up a business and a here to break monopolies.”
Lei blamed his accusers saying they were seeking to perpetuate the continued exploitation of the Kenyan consumer by rogue businesspersons.
He responded even as Kuria vowed to deport him and any foreign national engaged in retail trade, terming his Unicity Mall store as a threat to local traders.
Kuria’s intervention followed a protest memorandum by a business association bringing together representatives of traders in Nairobi’s leading markets.
The lobby due to meet Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Wednesday decried what it termed as unfair competition by Lei’s business whose store is said to offer goods at nearly half the price offered by Kenyan retailers.
