Traders count losses as Egerton University remains closed

The once-bustling Njokerio trading centre outside Egerton University is now almost completely deserted thanks to the closure of the institution.

The heavy steel footbridge that connects the centre to the university would be a hive of activity on any other day as students use it to go shopping. Now, it has been reduced into a basking area for lizards and other reptiles.

Along one narrow dusty path at the heart of the centre, which was the market’s tiny entertainment hub, the dirty paint on the front walls of closed business premises are peeling off.

Except for one or two cyber shops and a few fresh produce stalls remain open, the trading centre is deserted.

You can sense desperation from traders seating outside their premises waiting for customers from the way they look at the few visitors walking by.

University's closure 

A group of dejected boda boda operators shielding themselves from the scorching sun under a makeshift shade could be heard complaining.

“We really would like to see Egerton University up and running as it is one of the sources of our livelihood,” said one of the operators. “We would be doing good business at this time of the year as students resume from the long holidays, but we’re coming to the centre to bask every single day.”

Njokerio is one of the two trading centres around the 83-year-old Njoro campus where traders  are counting losses after the institution was closed in November last year after lecturers downed their tools demanding better salaries.

Mr Peter Wambugu runs a retail shop just off the Njokerio footbridge. Every day for the past three months, he said, he sits quietly in front of his shop, looking almost out of place.

“It has been tough. I go for days without making a sale and this is very frustrating for an entrepreneur like me who has so many obligations to meet, including repaying loans and meeting suppliers tight payment deadlines,” he said. “I want this institution to reopen as soon as possible or else I will follow my colleagues who have temporarily closed their shops.”

Leadership wrangles

“I think it will be better if the government intervenes and resolves the never-ending leadership wrangles at Egerton University,” he added.

The evidence of gloom and doom is there in the husks of closed-down shops, salons, eateries, drinking joints along the main stretch. It is also in the stories of those trying to survive the harsh trading moments at the trading centre.

Ms Ann Waithera, 28, said she used to work at one of the closed salons, and the last time she had a steady job and income was in October last year before the university was closed. She said she feels let down by the government.

Two traders at the far end of the trading centre running a salon and a barbershop whisper to one another that it feels too risky to keep their equipment in the closed shop.

“We can't run the shop here anymore. We have to make a living somewhere else,” one trader said as they prepared to pack their belongings.