Traders lose millions as fire razes business premises
Residents watch as shops are consumed by fire in Kapenguria on July, 3, 2022
Traders in Makutano, West Pokot County, are counting losses after fire razed their shops.
They watched helplessly as the inferno consumed their products as they waited for county government firefighters to arrive.
The cause of the Sunday fire had not been established, but some traders suspected an electrical fault.
Welding workshops, charcoal stores, wines and spirits shops, clothes stalls and eateries were among business premises reduced to ashes.
Jane Nafula, one of the traders, said she spotted a fire at a welding shop before it spread to other premises.
"I invested more than Sh200,000 in my restaurant business after taking a loan but it is no more. We blame the county government for failing to dispatch firefighters to put out the fire." she said.
She said she would now find it harder to pay fees for her two children at university as the eatery was her only source of income.
Traders said the county government is lax in responding to disasters.
"How can a fire engine have punctures and lack water when it is expected to respond to such tragedies,” said John Lomeri, another trader, who lost property worth millions in the blaze.
It took more than three hours for a fire engine from Trans Nzoia County to arrive in Makutano.
By then everything had been consumed by the fire.
