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The sorry state of the economy
Published on February 3, 2008, 12:00 am
After more than a month of political stand-off and persistent
violence, the economy is spiraling to a halt.
No one has been spared.
Handcart pushers and hawkers, neighbourhood shopkeepers and
multi-nationals are affected. So are real estate tycoons, hotels,
farmers, airlines, and players in rail and road transport.
The story is the same from the shores of Lake Victoria in Nyanza,
where fishermen are finding it hard to pursue their trade, through
to the Rift Valley where farmers are stuck with grains or cannot
access their farms.
It is the same in Kisii highlands where the soap stone industry at
Tabaka in South Mugirango is going down fast, dealt a blow by
post-election violence.
Even commercial sex workers and beach boys at the beaches of
Mombasa are feeling the pinch and struggling to change the way
they live.
In the North Rift, which covers Eldoret Town, thousands of litres
of milk have gone to waste, with tonnes of maize and wheat, which
are being devoured by pests and arsonists.
Farmers are also not selling their produce to the National Cereals
and Produce Board. Political uncertainty has made them fear they
may never be paid. The pinch has caught up with big time flower
farmers in Naivasha.
Despite being peaceful, the South Coast is all the same counting
losses as tourism has suffered tremendously.
Everywhere across the country, everyone is counting the losses,
which run into billions of shillings.
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