“Why us?” Mitumba traders ask county government, Kisii.
Written by RadioVuna on September 3, 2020
Mitumba traders in Daraja Mbili market on the better part of Thursday morning engaged the county reinforcement officers in a hide and seek sort of game over the sale of mitumba clothes in a piece of land that is under the protection of the county government. The traders have accused the county government of not being clear to them on where they should be holding their business.
The county reinforcement officers have been blamed for using more powers while dispersing the angry crowds. According to sources that spoke one on one to Radio Vuna, Governor James Ongwae has been hard on them for a long time and it has not provided a lasting solution to the stalemate.
“For six months we have not been able to sale after the ban by President Kenyatta. Barely one or two weeks since he opened up the selling and yet the county is on our neck for nothing. Governor James Ongwae should know that we have families to look after, children who need us and here at Daraja is where our breakfast, lunch and supper comes from. Ongwae please heard for once,” said a trader.
The three-hour standstill was solved temporarily after the leadership of the market met with the reinforcement officers from the county and agreed to allow the traders to spread their clothes as they try to find the way forward. However, the traders to it that the county government should come out and tell them what they should.
“We have a leadership in this market that we elected who should tell us the way forward but it’s quite unfortunate that the county government does not contact them either. It just sends law enforcers here without even consulting with our leadership first. We are tired of sure,” said a trader.
Some sources from the reinforcement officers claimed that they were ashamed of what they were doing. The sources revealed that they do not enjoy doing the job is only that they take instructions from above.
“Not that we enjoy doing this is only that we have to do it because we are under pressure to do so and we cannot avoid. We could have enjoyed seeing you people going around with your business because you are parents like us and you have families to tend,” revealed a source from the reinforcement team.
On the other hand cereal traders allocated to do their business from the newly launched market stalls have not been enjoying their business too. This is due to the place being too cold for storage of their cereals. They are also calling upon the county government to allow them to do their business from outside as they used to do previously.
Daraja Mbili is a renowned market for its richness in the supply of both secondhand clothes (mitumba) and cereals and vegetables. Traders come from far and wide to buy clothes and foods for resale. If the county government led by Governor does not intervene then it means the government will be losing a lot of revenue.
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