Over 2,500 traders in the new Ngong Market complained of incurring huge losses after a one-week power outage in the area.
The power outage was a result of disconnection by Kenya Power due to the failure of the County Government of Kajiado to settle a Ksh2 million bill.
The traders demanded that the management of the market and the county government resolve the matter because they were losing customers who were scared of getting into the market because of the dark.
“We want the management to resolve the issue because we pay the government every month. Why do we have power outages every now and then?
“We are scared of doing business or making cash transactions because of the darkness,” Terresia Nyokabi, a trader lamented.
Moreover, the traders appealed to the government to install solar panels in the market as a permanent solution allowing them to continue trading in case of a blackout.
“The government should install solar panels here as a permanent solution because we are tired of being in the dark.
“Otherwise, they should maintain a continuous bill payment for our sake and that of our customers,” another trader Simon Maina stated.
Additionally, the traders stated that the government had promised them a better and more efficient working experience, which was not the case.
They added that the power outage followed another a month earlier, adding that the matter was only resolved after a protest by the businessmen.
The traders were relocated to the Ksh700 million market by the ministry of transport and infrastructure in April 2021.
The five-story building was meant to create a dignified space that was safe and secure for traders to do their business.
