Panic buying causes mattress shortage as Kenyans lose confidence in banks

Chaotic scenes have been recorded across mattress stores and supermarkets as Kenyans rushed in droves to buy mattresses, following the loss of confidence in banks. Reportedly, Kenyans now believe their money is much safer under their mattresses than in banks!

In what is seen as a desperate attempt to get a safer place to keep their hard-earned cash following a spate of Kenyan banks collapsing, deadly stampedes have been witnessed at shops selling mattresses. “My money is much safer under a new mattress than in the bank,” a worried city resident told this reporter as he scrambled to buy a mattress.

Deaths have been reported at some city stores, with scores injured during stampedes. Most supermarkets had to employ extra security staff to ensure order was maintained. As a result of the huge deluge of buyers, most mattress stores and supermarkets couldn’t handle the pressure and had to be shut down after they ran out of stock.

“The panic withdrawal of money from banks has led to an unprecedented panic buying of mattresses,” said a mattress dealer. “This was unexpected and normally the universal practice is to put mattress stores in receivership when they face such haemorrhage of their stock.”

Most mattress store owners and manufacturers blamed the social media for causing a panic that led to too many people turning up at their stores all at the same time. The owners explained that were it not for the panic buying, they would have had time to import mattresses from neighbouring countries when the stock ran out if the buying had been orderly and controlled.

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Now with most mattress stores shut down, many are looking to a period of at least 12 months before they can be reopened. With ‘mattress banking’ now limited to only those who were able to buy one before the stores went down, Kenyans are now turning to other alternative places to keep their money.

Mattress banking

Holes dug in the backyards of their homes is an example. There has thus been an unprecedented buying of shovels, jembes, mattocks and other digging tools and equipment. As a result authorities are cautioning people against walking carelessly in their neighbour’s backyard to avoid falling into these holes.

There are also those who are keeping their money inside their shoe socks. Shopkeepers are now complaining about smelly money and are asking the government to intervene. The loss of confidence in banks has had far reaching implications. For instance, when people visit your house and leave their shoes at the door, should you sense a stinking smell, it’s not necessarily their feet; it could be the money they are carrying.

And as the hunt for alternative places of keeping money goes on, some Kenyans are also considering the possibility of stashing their money inside commission of inquiry reports that are gathering dust on government shelves, since no one will ever find the money there. Other unprintable places are understood to also be under consideration and it is only a matter of time before venereal diseases start being transmitted through notes and coins.

Unfortunately, for those who were able to get a mattress before the regulator shut mattress stores and supermarkets down, new problems have arisen which they have to contend with. For one the quality of sleep has reduced. An increase in backaches has thus been reported because the money Kenyans are keeping under their mattress has left them with uneven sleeping surfaces.

“When you find a co-worker coming to the office with a neck ache, it’s not that they had a fight with their spouse and they had to sleep on the sofa; it’s just that they are sleeping on mattresses made uneven by money,” quipped one personal finance expert.