After the showdown that ensued during Azimio’s mass protests, many business owners in Kibra, Nairobi are reeling from huge losses caused by vandalism and theft.
Many business owners in Kibra, Nairobi County are left in a state of despair after suffering immeasurable losses from the aftermath of mass demonstrations held on Monday, March 27. At the center of the chaos was a group of armed youths, who went on a torching spree, vandalizing and setting various properties and businesses ablaze.
Read also: Protesters invade Kenyatta, Odinga property in a counter- mass action
John Kebaso, a businessman in Kibra is one of the many business owners reliving the horrific scenes that transpired that fateful Monday. A group of young people, armed with pangas invaded his business at around 7:30 pm, looted everything in sight, and later set the premises on fire.
“They made a forceful entry into my business and robbed it before setting it on fire,” Kebaso said.
Kebaso, who owned a heavily invested establishment comprising of a pub and hardware says that the inhumane act lost him a lifetime’s worth of investment, which was his source of livelihood for him and his family.
“Everything we had was here… This business was not just a source of income for me. It was my life’s investment. It was from here that I provided for my family and educate my children.”
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Kebaso told Capital News that attempts to get the police to intervene led to a dead end,
“I made multiple contacts, I tried phoning Kilimani police station and I was referred to Kibra, they told me cops had been dispatched to another location, I tried Jamhuri and I got no response,” he said.
In total, the business man’s property loss amounts to Ksh 3.9 million worth of the pub’s stock and Ksh 13 million worth of the hardware’s stock.
Kebaso is not the only one who has scars to show for the brutality of protesters. Places of worship were also caught up in the web of raging protesters. The P.C.E.A Emmanuel Center as well as the church school in the area was also subject to vandalism, after which it too, was torched to ashes. Masjid-Al-Aqsa, a mosque neighboring the church also succumbed to the same fate.
Read also: AU Chairperson calls for dialogue between Raila’s Azimio and government
The incidents led to the destruction of property of unknown value. Opposition leader Raila Odinga came out to strongly condemn the invasion of people’s property during the mass action. He, however, remains steadfast in his quest, saying that until their demands are met by the government, the mass demonstrations will proceed as planned on Mondays and Thursdays.
