NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 25 – In the busy street of Moi Avenue, Nairobi sits Victorina Mbone on Christmas eve. She is selling various items: books, bags, socks and all kinds of stationery-the small things you encounter with traders on the streets.
Mbone is not closing down her business for the festive season as is the norm for many businesses. She has opted to keep her business open and not travel home due to the hard economic times.
The single mother of one, who identifies herself as a hustler, says she is going to work till the last day of the year to raise school fees for her daughter who is joining Form 3 next year.
“I can’t afford to travel because business has been slow this year, also as we approach the new year I need to raise fees for my daughter so I need to work even during the holidays to raise funds so that she is not sent back home from school,” she says even as other city dwellers make haste to bus stations in a last minute attempt to head for Christmas upcountry.
Mbone is from Vihiga county and she has not travelled to the village for Christmas for the past three years due to the high cost of living.
She said she won’t even travel for New Year so that she can raise as much money as she can from her business, perhaps taking advantage of festive-free spending by Nairobians.
“I will remain in Nairobi to ensure I have raised at least Sh10,000-20,000 as schools near opening in mid January,” she says.
Kenyans have been grappling with a high cost of living for most part of the year as the cost of food and fuel soared, the country’s inflation rate stood at 9.5 per cent in November.
And despite the hard economic times, there are still a number of Kenyans making their way upcountry with major roads being jam-packed since Friday.
Travellers on the Nairobi-Nakuru-Eldoret highway were worst affected as they spent hours on the road from the city. Other routes affected include Nairobi-Thika-Nyeri and other parts of central Kenya.
A spot check by Capital Business at several bus termini in the city on Christmas eve revealed long queues and hiked fares as passengers sought to travel last minute.
For instance, fare to Meru from Nairobi was Sh1200 from Sh500 while those travelling to Kisumu were parting with almost Sh2000 from Sh1000, a 100 per cent increase.
There were also long queues at the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and at the Nairobi airports where holidaymakers rushed to take a train or flight to the coastal city.
While airlines hiked fares due to high demand, the SGR fare remained the same but both were fully booked up to the second week of January.
