Why Kisumu residents are staring at a bitter Christmas : The Standard

High cost of living, insecurity and thoughts of next year’s school fees have dampened the celebration spirit among Kisumu residents. These have also been coupled with natural calamities such as floods, stubborn water hyacinth weed and strong winds that have left a trail of destruction in the city. “The high cost of living has made it difficult for us to spend on festivities. It will just be business as usual for me, I’ll stay indoors,” said Joseph Mwamtindi, a resident of Migosi Estate. Mr Mwamtindi, a father of five, is just one of the many saying they are unable to either spend on luxuries or travel to their rural homes.

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“The cost of travel within town has increased from Sh30 to Sh50. You don’t want to talk of that for traveling to the village,” said Violet Ochieng’. Traders who always rely on the festivities to boost sales are also lamenting. “We are not seeing people scramble to buy shoes and clothes like it has always been in past years,” said Josephin Akumu, a trader. Previously residents would throng Kibuye market to buy Christmas and New Year’s best. A spot check at Kibuye and Jubilee markets confirmed that only a handful of people were buying stuff to be used in the festivities. “We know the cost of living is biting, but we did not expect business to be this bad,” said a grocer at Kibuye.

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A junk food festival organised in one of the local top hotels and scheduled for yesterday was cancelled following slow uptake of tickets. Besides, the water hyacinth has robbed the few who would like to enjoy sceneries at the lake a chance to have fun by the lake. Yesterday, traders at the famous Lwang’ni group of hotels along the lake shore in Kisumu were staring at huge losses after more mats of the weed settled at the beach, turning the lake into acres of green vegetation. With the weed, even boat riders are unable to navigate the lake. Worse still, the city’s famous Jomo Kenyatta Sports Ground recreational area has been cut off by floods. The recent heavy rains have only helped to dampen the festive mood of the town renowned for partying around this time of the year.

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ChristmasKisumu County