By Georgina Akoth, DevReporter, Kisumu County
For 13 years now George Ouma Aloo has been selling second hand mitumba clothes. Through the business, he says he has been able to provide for his family. Mr Aloo started his business in 2009 in Eldoret before moving to Kisumu in 2014.
In an exclusive interview with a DevReporter, Mr Aloo narrated to us his experiences in the business since he moved to Kisumu.
He told us that some of his customers went with debts amounting to around Ksh 100, 000. He said the bad debt made his business crash, but he chose not to give up.
“Most of my customers went with my debt amounting to over Ksh100, 000 and are yet to pay up. This has been a big blow,” Aloo said.
It is the biggest loss in his entire business journey, but he now says that the loss taught him a good lesson on how to approach the business and also how to deal with his clients.
He eventually bounced back into the business more informed and stronger.
However, in 2020 Mr Aloo and other small-scale traders who were selling along the streets of Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground, Oginga Odinga, Anga’wa, Lower and Upper Ojino Okew were evicted by the Kisumu County Government. The County Governor Prof Anyang’ Nyongo said that the move was to enhance a clean environment in the city of the Kisumu.
This move by the county government made it difficult for the small-scale traders to sell their wares as others would try to squeeze their stocks in other markets like the one dubbed Corona market, to at least make some sales.
The non-motorised transport project
Later on, the Kisumu County government constructed Chichwa stalls and allocated space to over 740 traders who were previously evacuated from the streets.
The Chichwa stalls is a component of the non-motorised transport project which cost Ksh 37 million, and it is equipped with essential facilities such as water, electricity and sanitation to enhance trading hours.
Challenges faced by traders
Chichwa stalls accommodate a variety of traders ranging from those selling clothes, shoes and food vendors. According to Aloo, the county government is yet to deal with the issue of security at the market by.
“We have faced a lot of challenges, one of which is insecurity. We were given the market [by the county government] however the stalls came with no doors, posing security threats to our stocks”.
Low market turnout
Being allocated the stalls was a good move by the government, but the traders were given the stalls during the Covid-19 pandemic when customers were few. This forced some traders to quit business.
“After Covid-19, people’s businesses were doing badly. We were expecting the county government to empower us, the small traders, by at least marketing Chichwa stalls to the general public. Chichwa is a new market and not everyone knows where it is located, and this has been a big challenge to us,” added Mr Aloo.
Venturing into other hustles
Mr Aloo says that these poor approaches to policy development and implementation by the county government have made traders like him to venture into other side hustles to attain some financial security.
George, got into farming of tomatoes which is still labour and capital intensive and very perishable, making it hard to make profits.
“I do farming, I plant tomatoes, I plant maize. I plant maize in a year and harvest once, on the tomatoes side we rely on rain, when there is no rain it becomes so difficult. However, this is what I do as my side hustle,” Mr Aloo said.
Traders’ expectations
On the other hand, Mr Aloo is of the opinion that the county government of Kisumu should empower traders by giving them access to loans.
Also, since there has been a lot of changes in the city, the County government should advertise the market for customers to locate the small business traders.
“They [the county government] should give us access to loans, so that we can improve our business. They should also advertise the markets for the small business traders so that the public knows their locations so that they can come and buy,” Aloo requested.
Similar incident
Eviction of traders was not limited to those selling along the streets. Traders in other places within the city, like Kibuye market were also evicted.
According to the acting city manager Abala Wanga, the county opted to close Kibuye market due to sanitation problems, which threatened to contribute to the spread of Covid-19.
The traders later moved to the market dubbed Corona, an idle space located a few meters away from Kondele flyover.
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