Salgaa, Kikopey reduced to ghost centres by virus

Some of the tracks parked at Salgaa on March 31, 2020. The town used to be vibrant during the night has been reduced to ghost Centre. [Harun Wathari, Standard]

Salgaa and Kikopey, major stopovers for truck drivers along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway, would be a hive of activity on a normal day.

Kikopey is popular for nyama choma while Salgaa is where most long distance truck drivers rest before proceeding with their journeys. 

However, things have changed since the first case of coronavirus was reported in Kenya. It even got worse when the Government announced a raft of measures to contain the spread of the disease including the dusk to dawn curfew across the country. The rule on social distancing has also played a major role in reducing Salgaa and Kikopey to ghost centres.

Most business in the two centres have been affected as traders are forced to close early. Twilight girls, a common feature at entrances of bars and lodges, have also been hit hard as many people have left.

Only police officers enforcing the curfew can be seen moving around the two centres at night. Before the pandemic, partying never ended in Salgaa and Kikopey.

Many hotels have closed and workers send home. The few that are still open, and offering only takeaway services, must close by 7pm.

The highway that would on a normal day be charaterised by heavy traffic is now clear, especially at night. Truck drivers are parking along the highway during the night due to lack of enough parking slots in the two centres.

Most of them said they preferred travelling during the night. However, they are now forced to park and spent in the night in their vehicles, thanks to the curfew. This means, a journey from Kampala, in Uganda, to Mombasa, that would ordinarily take two days, in now taking double the time.

One of the drivers, Hassan Mangale, said it’s never the same again. “Because we travel a lot, people are no longer embracing us,” he said.

He added: “Salgaa is normally a lively place. With the curfew due to coronavirus outbreak, things and changed. The place has been deserted. Many people prefer to remain at home while others have travelled to their rural homes. Those who manage to come to town leave early so that by the time the curfew starts at 7pm, they are already in their houses.”

Mr Mwirigi Rich, also a truck driver, said people fear them. “We would rather sleep in the vehicles than go to hotels. People here are no longer seeing us the way they did. They fear us and no longer want to associate with us,” he said.  

To commercial sex workers, the curfew has complicated their lives.

Some said business has gone down and they are struggling to feed their children.

One of the women said she would make up to Sh2,000 per night. However, after the outbreak of the virus, even Sh200 is hard to come by. 

“I am a single mother. I have two children who look up to me for their upkeep. I have no other job, this is all I do,” said one of the women who said she is a commercial sex worker.

Another woman, who said she lives in Nakuru Town, but goes to Salgaa everyday, noted men are now afraid of them.

Mr Andrew Koros, the chairman of Nyumba Kumi Initiative, urged the sex workers to leave the streets as a measure to stop the spread of Covid-19.

“This place is too sensitive because it is a meeting place for many people. You may not tell who has the disease. That is why we are calling on everyone to take precaution. Even for the commercial sex workers, it is time to stay home. They should keep off the streets like everyone else,” said Koros who is also a local businessman.

It is also business unusual in Kikopey, Gilgil sub-county. Meat traders are complaining of lost business. 

Some of the traders have been forced to close shop. Some said they have had to throw away meat after it went bad due to lack of customers. 

Some commercial sex workers, on the other hand, are said to be working from their homes. 

The area had also gained notoriety due illegal sell of fuel siphoned from trucks. That business too is no more, at least for now.

Gilgil sub-county commissioner Ndambuki Mutheki noted all sectors of the economy have been affected.

“Businesses in our county, as is the case with the rest of the country, have been affected. Yet must continue to enforce the law to contain the spread of this disease,” he said.

Mr Jackson Nderitu, a bar owner, said the curfew will push hundreds of families into poverty.

He said bar owners and sex workers are the most affected as far as the curfew is concerned. “We’ve over 30 bars here, meaning many workers are jobless after most of them closed,” he said.

Mr Albert Ngure, who works in one of the nyama nyoma joints, sales had dropped massively and are not sure if they will ever recover.

The number of those infected by the virus across the world is approaching one million.