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Kenya: Nairobi Neighborhood’s Residents Struggle to Make Living During COVID Lockdown

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6 years ago

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Kenyan authorities last week locked down the Nairobi neighborhood of Eastleigh because of a jump in confirmed coronavirus infections. As a result of the restriction of movement in and out of the area, aimed at slowing the spread of the virus, businesses in Eastleigh are struggling to get by.

Mohamed Said, a food seller in the neighborhood, said business was poor, as few people were willing or able to shop at his store.

Slack time in the morning

“People are not coming to buy foodstuffs the way they used to before,” he said. “There is less movement of people around 4 in the evening. That’s when you see a few people around. When I come to the shop early in the morning, you regret coming to the shop that early because there are no people.”

The lockdown is heightening frustration in the Somali-majority neighborhood in central Nairobi. Said’s neighbor, Hussein Osman, also a food seller, said he might soon go out of business.

“Since the lockdown began, our business has gone down, and the lockdown has brought us a lot of losses,” he said. “We cannot afford to pay rent, and we are requesting the government to help whenever it can.”

Kenyan authorities closed off the area until May 20 after 29 new cases of the coronavirus were found there in a single day. Authorities are allowing only essential service providers, like medics and those delivering food, to enter and leave the area.

Mohamed Mohamud said the restriction had made life difficult.