Hawkers count losses as customers boycott wares over Keumbu chaos

Traders at Keumbu Market along the Kisii-Keroka-Nairobi Highway. [Stanley Ongwae, Standard]

Small-scale traders and especially hawkers in Keumbu Market are counting losses following a customer boycott campaign that is being driven on social media following political violence that led to loss of life on Friday.

One person was shot dead and scores were injured after they were attacked by goons, majority of whom were reportedly traders at the market situated along the Kisii-Keroka-Nairobi Highway.

The family of Vincent Osiemo, a 36-year-old father of three who died at Keumbu after falling off a moving vehicle, is struggling to come into terms with the loss.

Osiemo was pronounced dead at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital where he was rushed for emergency treatment after the fatal accident.

Osiemo was reportedly overwhelmed after he was caught in the chaos as goons pelted stones at the Linda Mwananchi convoy.

The fate of the second victim who fell from another moving vehicle is yet to be known.

“What some politicians are ushering into this country is a repeat of the 2007 election violence. Why should a live be lost because of politics?” Posed Oscar Osiemo, a brother to the deceased.

Following the incident, the traders in the market who rely on travelers who make stops in the busy town to do purchase food stuff have been sitting in the scorching sun without experiencing the usual flow of customers who have since Saturday boycotted the market.

“Those who stand by just abuse us as stone throwers who don’t deserve to be promoted in any way and we should go to our MP for our daily upkeep,” a trader who sought anonymity said.

The hawkers are already feeling the pinch of the boycott.

“I have not sold even a single finger of sweet banana since Saturday. Kenyans from diaspora told people not to buy anything from us. They even instructed bus companies not to stop here for any purchases,” Jane Kerubo another trader lamented.

Esther Nyanchama, a passion fruit hawker said she had been blacklisted by her fellow Chama women after she failed to pay her contributions for the third day on Monday.

“I have three merry-go-round groups to which I contribute Sh50 every day and already I have defaulted for the three days we have not made business,” Nyanchama said.

The online boycott campaign has been gaining momentum with matatu drivers cautioning passengers against buying from the Keumbu traders.

“We were not the ones who were throwing stones. We are only victims of circumstances and we should not be subjected to this backlash,” Nyanchama said.