Eastleigh Traders Face Uncertain Future After Security Crackdown

Business owners in Eastleigh say they fear imminent closure of their shops as customers and traders continue to avoid the commercial hub, wary of the Kenyan government's security crackdown and terrorist threats.

Commercial activity in Eastleigh has dropped by 60% since the security crackdowns started in April, and more than 150,000 people who directly depended on businesses in the area to earn a living are now staring at an uncertain future, said Eastleigh Business Community Association chairman Hussein Mohammed.

"Things are bad," he told Sabahi. "Traders are stuck with massive stock against few buyers."

Eastleigh had thriving 24-hour businesses before the security operation started, Mohammed said. Now, however, after a series of terrorist attacks in Nairobi and the subsequent security crackdown resulting in mass arrests, residents are hesitant to be out in the streets.

Many traders have also left their business premises unoccupied.

"Who would have expected a then-busy and premium shopping mall such as Garissa Lodge to have so many vacant stalls?" Mohammed said. "Garissa Lodge and other malls have been struggling to attract new traders without success, and sadly, every day [the stalls] remain unoccupied means the owners are incurring huge losses in rental revenue."

In addition, he said, the police crackdown is sending the wrong message that Eastleigh is a safe haven for terrorists and criminals, thereby discouraging some non-Muslims from transacting business with Muslim traders.

Businesses struggle from drastic sales slump:

"I had several non-Muslim customers who I called immediately when I brought new duvets and bed sheets from Dubai, and they would come and buy many. But nowadays, they do not even pick up my phone calls," said Yahya Omar, 27, proprietor of Bahati Bazaar Store.

"There are bad days when I only sell five bed sheets, yet before the operation I sold more than 20 pieces daily and when clients were many, I extended operating hours to late into the night," he told Sabahi. "I have not seen positives from the crackdown because the government ended up releasing more than 3,000 people it had arrested in the swoop anyway."