Malaba traders decry poor sanitation in Okima market

Malaba traders have decried the unhygienic environment in the Okima marketplace, a condition that has forced them to operate along risky roadside reserves.

During the launch of the Okima CBO Group, traders told the county government to clean the Okima market among other markets in the municipality to enable them to operate in a conducive environment.

Traders led by Okima Market CBO chairperson Alice Ekirapa slammed Malaba municipality for its failure to create a single washroom to aid traders and long-distance traders despite contributing massively to the economy of the municipality and county at large.

Susan Karakacha, a trader echoed Ekirapa's sentiments and said the market has become filthy due to poor sanitation and a lack of ablution blocks, a condition that has led to traders resorting to walls.

The traders want the Busia County Government to ensure a conducive working environment and enact a law that protects Kenyan businessmen at the border from Ugandan counterparts who are now hawking door to door.

“Let the county government and Malaba municipality up their game by cleaning this market and supplying us with clean tap water with mobile toilets.

"This will save us from shame and an impending disease outbreak,  we can’t operate in such an environment yet we pay taxes like other Kenyans,” Karakacha said.

Busia County Assembly Environment committee member  Mary Odongo said the committee had visited the market and recommended an immediate upgrade.

According to Odongo, the cleanliness of the market should be addressed immediately by the municipality by collecting the accumulating garbage and providing water to traders amid the fear of an MPox outbreak.

Okima market, which houses more than 200 food vendors, is plagued by unpleasant odors and persistent flies emanating from uncollected garbage yet Malaba municipality receives a budget of Sh80 million and a similar amount from the World Bank.

Traders and bodaboda operators jointly decried over unhealthy competition from Uganda with an influx of food items rendering Kenyan trade redundant or traders counting losses from their unsold food.

Bungoma Deputy Governor Janepher Mbatiany urged residents to remain focused on the primary mandate of the CBO for its success.

Mbatiany urged the Busia County Government to move with speed and address the plight of traders who play a vital role in the economic growth of the border town.

“Malaba cross-border traders play a vital role in linking up traders and farmers. They have placed Kenyan names on the global market and hence should be treated with a lot of care,” she said.

" We must protect Kenyan businessmen from unlicensed hawkers who have occupied the entire place, including estates.

'They are selling goods without the requisite licenses and pay little attention to hygiene, yet our traders are busy at designated marketplaces," she added.