Raila’s broken promise: Kibra traders left in limbo
Christina Valentine, a resident and trader in Karanja in Nairobi's Kibera slums at the location of her shop that was looted and burned down during the recent Azimio-led mass protest in Kibera.
What you need to know:
- While meeting church and business leaders on March 29, Mr Odinga promised to help the traders rebuild their shops.
Traders in Nairobi’s Kibra whose properties were destroyed by fire on March 27 when anti-government demonstrations took a nasty turn are still waiting for Azimio leader Raila Odinga to make good his promise to support them with construction materials.
The traders, led by their chairman Bonface Mutiso, say they are still waiting for iron sheets that Mr Odinga promised to deliver to them.
“He promised us some iron sheets to help us rebuild new business structures. But we have not seen them. People are suffering. Some took loans to finance their businesses,” Mr Mutiso told Nation.Africa.
“We want to know if the funds were released or not. We have tried to get in touch with our lawmakers and Members of County Assembly (MCAs) from Kibra but we have not received any response,” he added.
While meeting church and business leaders on March 29, Mr Odinga promised to help the traders rebuild their shops.
“We are sorry for traders whose businesses were destroyed recently in Kibra. We understand you suffered a huge loss, and we are ready to help you rebuild by providing construction materials such as mabati,” Mr Odinga said.
“We do not want the destruction of properties and economic sabotage. All we want is the government to fulfil its promises to traders and Kenyans facing the tough effects of the economy.”
Ms Mercy Awuor, one of the traders whose stall was ravaged by fire, said no politician is keen on them.
“We elected many leaders in Kibra but since the fire incident, they have vanished. All we want to know is whether or not our help was released. We also want to know whether our leaders whom we elected really care for us,” she said.
Amian Salim, another trader, said they visited the office of Kibra lawmaker Peter Orero to inquire about their fate but were told to wait.
“We are still waiting up to date,” said Amian.
The businesspeople along Makina, Karanja and Olympic lost millions as unknown people looted and torched their business during the weekly anti-government demonstrations.
Many stalls that were torched are yet to be rebuilt. However, other traders have taken loans to rebuild.
“I can’t keep on waiting for iron sheets. My children need to eat, we need to pay back our loans and restock. We are not sure if we have leaders or we have been neglected,” said one trader.
