With the Christmas and New Year celebrations already here with us, a good number of Kenyans appear excited about the looming festivities, normally characterized by fun.
However, this is not the case for residents of Kisumu County, who will not be having a so merry Christmas, due to the many problems they are being subjected to.
Top in the list is the ongoing strike of public hospital medics, who have accused the county leadership of failure to implement their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Consequently, residents have been forced to spend more money seeking medical intervention from private facilities, eating into money that would have been used for Christmas.
"The challenges facing the health sector as well as the high cost of living have made it hard for several families to spend on luxuries in preparation for Christmas,” said Joash Owino.
The resident and patient told the Monday Standard that he was recently turned away from Kisumu County Hospital due to absence of doctors.
The recent floods which have left the county in bad shape will also not let the affected residents enjoy themselves this festive season.
An ailing economy and worsening unemployment and demolition of hawking stalls have further dampened the mood.
The Kenya Railways has also demolished small scale businesses to reoccupy its land. The county is yet to fully relocate the evictees.
As a result of the mentioned reasons, traders in the county are complaining of low sales, at a time when business would be booming were things all right.
“We were all expecting to make a kill during the festive season, but there is nothing to celebrate so far. People are not buying clothes like they used to in the past,” said Angeline Aoko, a clothes vendor at Kibuye market.