Popularly known as Wang Taya to the locals, the sun drop city centre went up in smokes, with looters having a field day. The city has since faced uncertainties among investors.
These are hard times for captains of the city that was once the pride of this side of the country.
With years of marginalization by both Kenyatta and Moi regimes, industries collapsed vast numbers of workers and families were badly hurt and continue to be seriously affected.
Siasa mbaya maisha mbaya as the self-proclaimed professor of politics (read Moi) aptly coined it simply meant nothing in resources flowed to the city that didn’t sing Mama Kanu.
Recovery over the years has been long and slow, made only worse by the mess of post 2007 presidential election heat. Stubbornly high level of youth unemployment persisting, the last the residents want to hear is a scary dark city patrolled by police and thugs.
Tushar Joshi has been doing business in Kisumu for many years. He laments the status of the city currently. “We don’t know what is going on, few years ago it was both dry taps and dark streets. But since the new water pipes were laid in the city, it has not been a huge problem with water even though there are still times when the water runs dry”.
Joshi adds that it has become almost impossible to go anywhere at night in the city. He is also the chairman of the Hindu Council, Kisumu chapter.
The scars of the post poll precipice are still raw; Ukwala Supermarket building that was torched allegedly by Police during the skirmishes is still under reconstruction. A boda boda ride from Nyalenda has become bumpier, as the motorcyclist has to wiggle his way out of potholes that came to being out of bon fires caused by rioters as they tried blocking the anti-riot police during the violence. “As the fires burnt , the tar that bound the materials together melt away, leaving the ballast loose, and with each day of traffic, the tires dig holes on these areas” Explained motorcyclist, as we arched our way through Milimani area.
A major form of transport between the estates and the sun kissed city centre boda boda employs many youths in Kisumu city. Both bicycle and motorbike have become the hallmark of Kisumu’s transport system, and has become the young investor’s choice.
Over 200 hundred motor bike ply the Dunga-Town route alone, says Biggy, a motorcycle repairman, no matatus operating this route, but security has become a concern for us” there are no street lights at all these days”.
Police have had to heighten vigil on the streets, that most of these young operators see as harassment, but which is very much justified.
Police patrol vehicles are everywhere around the city, the dark Oginga Odinga Street alone is under strict police surveillance.
“Since the supermarket (Nakumatt) runs twenty-four hours, we have to ensure shoppers are safe.” A police officer told me as he walked some youthful men and women to a waiting police Land Cruiser, handcuffed. Ogaga Osiro is the Town Treasurer with the dream to change the face of Kisumu He says that “much as the city seems to have few friends in the media these days”, they are already doing much to rebuild the confidence that is much needed”.
Rumors of the city’s demise as a regional hub may have been exaggerated, for one reason, the port city formerly known as Port Florence is still strategic for communication and trading, a confluence for the Great Lakes region -Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
While infrastructure may be battered, the mere potential of the city remains unexplored in terms of port services on the fresh waters of Lake Victoria.
And Kisumu’s politicians aren’t helping. Too much obsession with politicking at the national level has not helped. How would you explain an unlit city streets at night without a single comment from the area politicians.
Asigo, he may be “six months old in the post as Town Treasurer”, his youthful verve assuring, but the dark cloud over City Hall of Wang Taya is a crisis that bureaucratic excuses cannot suffice for a reason to continue.
That the company that was awarded the tender to light up the city cannot, since 2007, reinstall or repair the broken street lamps and according to Osigo, these are contractual issues that we have little authority over” Who has the authority then if not City hall official like him, you may ask ...
It is something that we read from our procurement and logistics text book, and even common sense has it that an unyielding supplier’s contract must be reviewed should they fail in their contractual binds.
Post 2007 has been described by some as Kisumu’s own “financial meltdown’. While towns like Nakuru and Eldoret seem to have recovered fast, Kisumu still struggles.
At night Nakuru is a sea of yellow neon lining the streets, second only to the capital, Nairobi.
Abundant sunshine and strong winds from the lake, one wonders where thinkers at the City Hall have their priorities. Solar and wind-powered city lighting have become much preferred, especially in cities like Kampala. It would be a financial prudence to have such installed.
Kisumu is a ghost town by night. Not even the once tendered and manicured garden near Mayfair Bakery is anymore, and businesses close as early as seven in the evening.
There is need to maintain the conditions that allow business to flourish in Kisumu, and street lighting shouldn’t be something to remind the mayor and his henchmen at the City Hall.
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