It will take us many months to recover, traders say

Purity Murugu counts losses after Hadari Cosmetics shop along Kenyatta Avenue, Nairobi, was looted during demonstrations on June 24, 2024. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

Apart from the choking teargas that welcomes you to the city centre; the ever lively capital city stands tumbled-down.

From Nairobi’s downtown area to uptown; all kinds of wastes, broken glasses and rubble are strewn on the roads and walkways.

The rubble and waste paint a clear picture of the battles that ensued between anti-Finance Bill protestors and police on June 25 and 27, 2024.

In the wake of the deadly demonstrations; hundreds of shops, supermarkets and offices were broken into and valuables and cash worth millions of shillings stolen.

Not even chemists, barbershops, butcheries and eyeglasses shops were spared in some areas of the capital.

On Friday, several traders were counting loses. Some unable to decipher how they would pick up again.

Others supervised carpenters and welders who were fixing broken doors and windows with the majority settling on strong metallic doors and grills to avoid the replica of what was witnessed.

It is evident that the demonstrators overpowered the police and ransacked their target joints without any resistance.

Some traders watched from a distance as looters scrambled for stuff in their shops.

Ismael Ali, a computer and mobile accessories dealer on Wabera Street is one of the traders whose shop was broken into on June 25 by hundreds of youths around 4pm.

“I was offering money transfer services also in the shop which is now a shell, everything was stolen as I watched helplessly. In total, I lost about Sh7 million,” Ismael shared.

Traders in Nairobi's CBD protect their shops from goons masquerading as protestors on June 27, 2024. [Robert Tomno, 2024]

“That day there were about 500 people marching on this street alone, I suspect they were criminals as described by the President because they were targeting shops owned by innocent people like us,” he added.

The trader said it will now take him several months to recover what was stolen.

Not far from him is a money exchange shop whose security was also breached and everything vandalized.

“Luckily, there was no money at that time, but they managed to cart away computers, grills, cash dispensers and even ceiling,” one of the staff shared.

Along Wabera Street several other traders are counting losses, among them a popular shop that sells imported suits from Italy. Only broken mannequins were spared.

Along Kenyatta Avenue, a section of Uganda House was set on fire razing down several shops on ground floor.

The six-storey building hosts the Ugandan Embassy and a string of law firms, among them that of renowned advocate Danstan Omari.

The building has been under renovations since last year and was set to be completed this year.

The recently refurbished Uhuru Park recreational centre was not spared by the protestors, some arty items including a huge old decorated airplane skeleton was razed to ashes.

Other features including statues and relics remain strewn on the lush park that was allocated about Sh2 billion for the renovation through the 2021/22 supplementary budget.

In the city centre alone three leading supermarkets are now empty after protestors overpowered police and managed to break in on Tuesday.

They include Carrefour around City Hall, Naivas Ronald Ngala and Quickmart Mfangano.

However, a staff of one of the joints said the chains are insured but could take about three months to recover.

Police sources say the looting started around 5pm in the evening after the protestors stormed Parliament adding that at the time,majority of the cops had been moved to save the situation around Parliament Road.

“Around 4pm, there were groups of young men entering the city centre from Jogoo Road via Muthurwa and others through Gikomba market and Ngara areas,” an officer from Kamukunji police said.

 In the uptown the metallic guard rails along the roads were uprooted and stolen on Mama Ngina Street and City Hall Way and other roads around.

Along Ronald Ngala street, RNG building was targeted by the looters leaving huge destruction of the businesses around.