Chesegon: Peace market swept aside by devastating 2020 landslide

Standing on top of the Chesegon hills looking down into the valley below, one only sees bare flat land dotted with rocks and shrubs.

Nothing can be seen in the valley marking the territorial boundary between West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet.

But that’s not how it used to be.

The deserted area buzzed with travellers, boda boda riders, buyers and sellers — a busy market the two communities had started as a peace token.

Here, guns, bows and arrows were laid down, and in their place booming business took over. Money changed hands between once-warring communities whose only way of getting what belonged to the other was by bullet and arrow.

Then things changed on April 18, 2020.

Tragedy struck 

A devastating landslide — which killed 37, with 23 bodies yet to be found — reduced the market to rubble and replaced it with huge boulders, which settled as the land shifted down from the Kipchumwa escarpment.

Here, through uncontrolled cultivation and human settlements, leaving the terrain bare and vulnerable to landslides.

County disaster management teams estimate that 500 people have died in small, intermittent landslides over the past 10 years, but with Chesegon still high on the list of the worst disasters yet.

Because it was on the border, Chesegon trading centre, at its peak, drew up to 10,000 people on busy market days.

Joseph Lomuke, who owned an eatery before the market was swept away, had, like many of his colleagues, banked on the market to get them out of poverty.

“We are not happy at all. We thought that the market would help alleviate our poverty. We had suffered for long, and we thought we had found the magic bullet to get us out of the yoke of poverty,” a dejected Mr Lomuke says.

Mathew Karwotum cannot believe the dream of the peace market, and how it picked up, has gone up in flames, or more precisely, gone down with the mudslides.

“The market is dead. We only see stones and trees. There are no shops, and I just can't believe there were shops and thriving businesses here before. Unbelievable!” he said.

And with a sign of despair, he adds: “Now, it looks like we have no plan to rebuild the market. Maybe the next generation might give it another shot?”

Boosted economy 

The locals, still in need of the things Chesegon provided, have now set up in Sokotio, near Cheptulel and Liter.

The Chesegon market, which had seen its good market days disrupted due to fighting, had been reopened for business by Deputy President William Ruto, just a year before the devastating landslides.

The market quickly became one of the biggest, driving the region's economy, bringing together traders from as far away as Tiaty in Baringo County.

Those from the highlands would bring fresh produce from their farms while those from the lowlands, who are largely pastoralists, brought their animals for sale.

Chesegon produces mangoes, watermelon, paw paws and vegetables. There are also goats, sheep and chickens.

Marakwet East MP Kangogo Bowen said the market had a great agricultural potential and it used to help move residents from subsistence to commercial farming.

“This market was one of its kind. It was purely a market for fresh farm produce and ideal for adequate and reliable supply of vegetables,” recalled Mr Bowen.

West Pokot Governor John Lonyangapuo said the market used to give a boost to the region’s sluggish economy.

“Residents from both counties used to engage in business. When the market was destroyed, the economy was hurt. There is no free flow of goods and services. These people from the dry areas are now starving as those from highlands stare at huge losses. Fresh produce from their farms lacks a market,” he said.

The closure of the market has also hurt the county, he said.

“The county government used to collect between Sh40,000 and Sh80,000 per week, Sh250,000 every month and Sh2.5 million a year but it has gone down,” he said.

He said other markets will be opened along the border of the two counties and urged residents to maintain peace to foster progress.

“Now business people and traders from other major towns will start coming to sell their commodities. We want to foster unity among communities from both sides,” he said.

Locals have urged officials to complete building roads in Barbeolo, Tot, Chokor, Kitasi and Marich to spur economic growth.

[email protected]