Kisumu 7th Jan 2008
 
KISUMU CITY NOW A GHOST TOWN IN THE AFTERMATH OF A WEEK LONG OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION

By Leo Odera Omolo.

Kisumu, Kenya’s third largest city is total ruin in the aftermath of seven days of riots, massive looting and destruction of property worth millions of shillings.

It will take up to ten or fifteen years before this beautiful City which stand on the Eastern tip of the shoreline of the Kivirondo Gulf is back to its former self.

Kisumu is now a ghost town. All it’s hitherto well stocked shops were vandalized by the rioting youth which began on 30th December 2007 even long before the country’s bitterly disputed Presidential election results were announced by the Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) Mr. Samuel Kivuitu were made public.

It is moderately being estimated that the massive loss incurred by the local business community in this Lakeside City, which is located on the Eastern shore of Lake Victoria could be as high as Kshs. 3 Billion.

Rioters had descended on shops along the main Oginga Odinga Road, which is the city’s Central Business District (CBD) and vandalized 90 per cent of shops a long the streets.

Where they were unable to break in they set the premises a blaze. These rioters seemed to have targeted shops selling electronic goods such as cellphones, TV sets, Radio and Musical instruments. Food cafes and those shops selling clothes were not spared either. The rioters stole everything including bicycles and generator engines that were in display.

The most targeted was the multi million shillings Swan Centre Complex which is the property of the Minister for Roads and Public Works Simon Nyachae. The rioters smashed window glasses and carried away everything from cellphones, computers to spirits and wines. The building now stands as an empty cell and not of it former self.

The only government offices located up stairs of Swan Centre were left intact. The building is housing the regional offices of the Kenya Revenue Authority. (KRA).

It was a case of human madness. The rioters ransacked shops around the main bus terminal near the market and burnt them down.

Several Supermarkets did not escape the anger and the carnage of the rioters, Ukwala and Uchumi Supermarkets which are suspected to be owned by business magnate of Kikuyu tribes were looted and even small kiosks owned by poor women were looted and burnt down.

Kisumu City is the birth place of Raila Amolo Odinga, the man who is believed by many Kenyans to have won the presidential race but was rigged out by the ECK, The city is Mr. Odinga’s stronghold and home turf though he represented Langata in the suburb of the Capital, Nairobi

Many vehicles packed along the city streets were set a blaze by the marauding bands of youths. No object of economic value was left to chance. Many vehicles parked outside the City offices like water Company located next to Nyalenda Peri-Urban were all burnt to ashes. The three million people who are of residents of Kisumu are now marooned and dying of hunger. Food shortage especially vegetable, meat, fish are so scarce.

Some of the public joints and hotels survived due to the heavy security presence, but are yet to open their doors for public except serving only a few boarders. These are hotels Sunset, the 3 Stars Imperial Hotel and the New Kisumu Hotel which is owned by the Maseno University.

The street of Kisumu are littered with the smelling burning tyres, which have burnt the tarmac road to black spots. The rioters even pushed away brand new motorbikes found in display in the shops. Hardware shops lost millions of shillings on looted corrugated Iron Sheets, Cements etc.

Kisumu looked like a place which had been bombed in the conventional war and those who knew the city well were seen shading tears openly on seeing what happened.

In the Initial stage few policemen from Kisumu and Kondele Police station would not cope up with the situation. The government was forced to call in the crack paramilitary unit, the General Service Unity (GSU) in order to contain the situation but the men of GSU had moved in too late after the damage had already been inflicted to the city.

Nothing like this has ever happened in Kenya before, and the main roads leading to rural towns and trading centers in the out laying districts were blocked by bands of youths who demanded to be paid before any motorist could pass. Those who could not afford the high fees charged by youths were beaten savagely, robbed and their vehicles set a blaze.

For the whole week, the sounds of guns had reigned the air for days and nights but when it went silent 120 bodies of dead people were counted in the city Morgue. Gun shots were also heard in the Peri-urban areas and the surrounding estates like Manyatta, Nyalenda, Pand Pieri and the crime infested Obunga areas where the security personnel were engaged in running battle with the youth for hours.

And to rebuild Kisumu City, which is the hub of business activities and the get away to East Africa, will take as long as ten years. But certainly the investors who are mainly the people of Asians origin have to think twice before risking their investments in this town.

The question which linger in minds of many Kenyans is not whether Mr. Odinga or President Mwai Kibaki had won the Presidential votes, but why should a city which is catering for over 3 million people should be destroyed over night because of political impasse which can only be solved politically through dialogue and constructive engagement between the Kenya Linters?

End

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com