‘We look up to the CS with a lot of hope despite current gloom’

When the Budget is read today, Joash Osele will be watching with great enthusiasm.

A fruit vendor at City Market in Nairobi, Osele says this year has dealt him a fair share of financial misfortunes and he hopes the Budget will cushion him from the hopelessness since the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

“My customers who used to buy fruits have no money. Eating fruits has become a luxury for them. I have been making losses since March. I am struggling to pay rent,” says Osele.

His biggest hope, he says, is that the government will reduce cost of food items. He says many traders who work around him can barely feed their families.

“Now that children are at home, you have to ensure when you are leaving home, you have left enough food for them. It would be a relief for parents if items like flour, sugar and other food items are sold at a lower price,” he says.

His struggle as a businessman amid the pandemic has been felt by many traders across the country.

Regulations such as curfew that reduced their working hours and restricted movement has made things more difficult, financially.

“People in business are depressed because things happened so fast. Suddenly their lives changed. When Budget is read, the government should know there are people out losing hope. This year’s Budget should focus on bringing back hope,” says Christine Mwelu, the chairperson of a group that imports items from China.

She says they have a WhatsApp group that they were using to encourage each other, but as the impact got heavy, with borders being closed and access to cargo becoming nearly impossible, even the messages of encouragement stopped.

“People had taken loans at the beginning of the year. Some had sold property to get into business. It is a confusing time,” says Mwelu.

Yvonne Mbusi, a cleaner who goes door-to-door to offer her services in South B, hopes this year’s Budget will dedicate more money to women and vulnerable children. She has two sons with autism, and says she spends most of her income seeking medical services for them.

“With Covid-19, I have not been able to work. My job is to move from house to house. Needless to say, I cannot do it at this time. Imagine how much debt I have sunk into,” she says, adding that despite having registered for the Covid-19 fund that was to care for the vulnerable in society, she is yet to get feedback.

Direct impact

“I got tired of asking for the funds that we were told was allocated for people like myself who have children with disability. It would have been ideal if this Budget comes up with something more sustainable,” Mbusi says.

Erick Odhiambo, who graduated from college last year admits that he does not quite understand how the Budget works, but says he hopes that in between the many numbers and percentages that will be read, there will be something that will have a direct impact on his life.

“I stay with my cousins in Kangemi. It is three of us in a single room, desperately looking for jobs. If there is a way the Budget can address joblessness, it would be great,” he says.

Odhiambo also hopes the price of Internet will reduce so that even as the pandemic pushes people to work virtually, he can access cheap Internet and not spend as much money as he is currently doing.

“There are days when I use Sh300 per day to buy Internet bundles so that I can keep applying for jobs,” he says.

On social media, the message of hope was reinforced. Amid the many tales of how Covid-19 has affected the economy, and how people have lost jobs and gotten pay cuts, they cling on hope that today when the Budget is read, they will find a message of solace.