KISUMU, Kenya, May 24 -Traders and the business fraternity in Kisumu are crying foul in the wake of the just concluded Africities Conference in Kisumu.
The traders who mainly plied their ventures at Dunga beach and at Hippopoint beach lamented that they did not register any meaningful gains from the summit.
“We went out of our way to secure loans to boost our stocks projecting an influx of visitors and a boom in business to ensure our visitors are adequately catered for, but now we are counting losses after the fish stocks for some traders went stale in fridges forcing them to throw them away,” lamented Beatrice Okello, a disappointed trader.
The traders lamented that they have not met their expectations, claiming that it appears that the summit was not properly advertised to spur good attendance.
“We had lots of hope and procured lots of food including fish in plenty, expecting many visitors but we have been disappointed because the event has been more of an anticlimax and the very opposite of our expectation,” lamented Verol Anyango, a trader.
The traders further lamented that the event has also left them with the debt burden of paying off loans from which no profit has accrued.
“We totally and fully prepared for Africities but we as artists we are greatly disappointed, so we urge that if there will be other similar fora, then let them closely involve the local people,” urged a local trader
The traders regretted that their huge expectations of booming business that even led some of them to procure loans never materialized following the few visitors and a disappointing turnout at the AfriCities.
Soapstone dealers and carvers of different artefacts too joined in the lamentations of the bad business during the Africities fair calling on the government to ensure they undertake a proper advertisement if such events are to take place in the country, lamenting that even the local artists were not even involved to help promote the event.
