Kisii County Governor James Ongwae. [Photo/Dennis Chacha]
Traders at Keumbu market are counting losses after a cartel who is a close ally to governor James Ongwae destroyed business stalls in the market.
The traders said the cartel who is also a businessman has been making efforts to evict them but in vain.
"The businessman has been claiming that we operate businesses at his workplace. We pay daily taxes to the county as he does but he decided to destroy business stalls on grounds that we are not authorised to operate in the area. We suspect governor may have pushed us out using the cartel,” said Elkanah Nyandusi.
Nyandusi accused the businessman of failing to give the traders notice to move to other areas instead of destroying their property.
"Traders used a lot of money to build the stalls. We are being pushed to move without even notice. The county government of Kisii led by governor James Ongwae should intervene and have the cartel compelled to rebuild the stalls for us to continue operating our businesses,” he added.
The traders were speaking at the market on Sunday during their weekly meeting.