Nyeri: Vendors grapple with low sales as potential clients keep off new market

Traders who were relocated from the Kamukunji grounds to the Sh700-million Field Marshal Muthoni Kirima bus terminus in Nyeri Town are yet to find their footing more than a year after moving to the new facility.

The county government set up stalls at the Kamukunji grounds in 2020 to allow hawkers who previously operated along the Gakere road to have a place from where they can operate their business.

Some of the affected traders were opposed to the arrangement and said the stadium had little to offer in terms of customers.

The shift to the stadium ended up affecting national holiday celebrations, forcing organisers to host the events at the DEB Muslim Primary School grounds.

This challenge was eventually addressed by the county authorities on July 30, 2023, after they ordered the relocation of more than 1,000 traders from Kamukunji to Field Marshal Muthoni Kirima market.

Speaking to KNA, Joseph Wanjohi, a fruit vendor at the new market, said he is a frustrated trader owing to low sales occasioned by a lack of clients.

Wanjohi said he initially thought the county authorities would fast-track the relocation of the main bus park to the site as this would have been a boost to his business, but this has never taken place to date.

“Where we are currently operating from is way off from the town CBD and the main matatu stage, which handles quite a substantial number of potential customers,” Wanjohi said.

“This is a challenge as no one can walk from town to this place to buy something he or she can easily access within the town CBD,” he said.

“This is what has really affected our businesses here since we can hardly convince anybody to come here.”

He said while the new market provides ample space and a less congested environment compared to the previous location in town, it has not attracted the number of customers they had hoped for.

The trader faulted the county government for not putting up a reliable means of transport that can ferry people to the market and back, which he said has played a part in their present predicament.

“Sometimes I feel as if we were left here to barely make it. It also appears that only a few people might be aware we do exist. We have now taken the initiative of informing the masses that we are around, although this should have been the work of the county authorities,” he said.

James Kariuki, a potato seller at the market, said he is comfortable with the two days that were allocated to them as market days.

Kariuki said any proposal to open the market daily may be counterproductive to their trade and especially for those who supply their goods in bulk.

“Our working days are Wednesday and Saturday, which is okay for me, but making it a weekly cycle would be a disaster. The competition would be high and we would earn even less in terms of profits,” he said.

Kariuki said vendors from other areas, such as Mweiga, Mukurwe-ini, and Mwea, rely on the market and would struggle with transportation costs if the days were increased.

Rachael Wambui, a greengrocer cited the lack of a proper transport system to the market as a challenge bedeviling their business.

Wambui said they were optimistic the county government would move all the PSV matatus from the main town terminus to the new bus park as they had been promised but now feel let down after this failed to take place.

"We receive very few customers here owing to the absence of a reliable transport system for potential customers. With a slow stream of clients to this place, the best thing the county government can do is to allow us to operate daily and maximise the added time. Short of such interventions, we will end up recording losses day in and day out,” Wambui said.

In February this year, the chairman of the Asian Quarters Muthoni Kirima Traders Association traders, Samuel Maina Kamami, disclosed that the county government had failed to address some of the challenges they had raised before their relocation.

Among the issues the traders had been promised included prompt relocation of the current matatu terminus to the site as soon as possible, as this would have contributed to a crucial increase in their clients.

“We had been promised our businesses would receive a boost once the main matatu terminus is relocated to this place as there would be more traffic compared to Kamukunji grounds. This was supposed to have been effected within two weeks but six months down the line, nothing has happened,” Kamami said.

“Traders are now counting losses as very few people are willing to walk to this market due to the long distance from the CBD.” 

The trader faulted the county government for allocating only Saturday and Wednesday as market days claiming this was inadequate to undertake any meaningful business.

“We normally operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays and thereafter close for five days of the week, which to me translates to lost business. This should not be the case if we are going to boost the income of small businesses in this county,” he said.

"Some of our members have already paid for their market stalls but cannot open them since the county government is yet to issue them with trading licenses. This means their stalls will remain closed for business even though they have paid for them.” 

On August 7, 2023, President Ruto directed the Lands Ministry to set aside Sh150 million for the upgrading of the terminus.

While commissioning the multimillion-dollar bus terminus, the President said the government would ensure the traders who were relocated from Kamkunji grounds conduct their business in a conducive environment.

He directed the Ministry of Information, Communication, and the Digital Economy to connect the facility with free public Wi-Fi to enable business people in the terminal to leverage on e-commerce.  

Field Marshal Muthoni Kirima's bus terminus was expected to address the challenge of endless traffic gridlocks that end up inconveniencing commuters in wasted man hours.

The Sh700 million terminus was to be implemented in two phases by the Nyeri Town Municipality Board.

It was financed under the Kenya Urban Support Programme, a World Bank initiative whose objective is to spur economic development in counties through improved physical infrastructure development.

The facility features 240 matatu, bus, taxi and tuk-tuk bays, 1,000 booking offices, 40 parking bays, and 98 passenger waiting bays.

The bus park hosts 1,000 business stalls, five sanitation blocks, high-level water tanks and a modern solid waste chamber.