Kongowea traders clash over Sh2m Ruto token

Leaders at the Kongowea market have clashed over a token of cash given to them by Deputy President William Ruto.

 Ruto on October 16 gave Sh2 million to Kongowea traders to boost their businesses.

However, a section of the leaders have claimed six individuals only gave out Sh700,000 and pocketed the rest.

Led by sectional heads Richard Nyangoto and Philip Mueke, the leaders said the Sh700,000 was too little and could not help the traders, some of whom, they claimed, received as little as Sh30.

“We love our Deputy President, but those who represent him in the market will make us not love him any more,” Nyangoto said.

They spoke at the market on Monday.

But on Tuesday, Kongowea market wholesale chairperson Biasha Hamisi told the Star the two were among leaders being used by politicians eyeing the Nyali MP seat to cause havoc in the market.

Biasha, who was among the people put in charge of the Sh2 million, said Nyangoto was given Sh40,000 to distribute to his section’s traders.

“What makes him think there was money left? He himself knows how hard it is to distribute money in Kongowea, and we made sure all people got something,” Biasha said.

A quick survey by the Star in Kongowea indicated that most people received some cash, even as little as Sh100.

“We got money. I got Sh100 and I am a porter in the market,” Samuel Odhiambo said.

 Mueke and Nyangoto said Sh100 cannot help boost anyone’s business.

“What will a tomato seller do with Sh30, Sh50 and Sh100?” they posed.

The traders called on Ruto to use his intelligence network to find out where the rest of the money, almost Sh1.3 million, went to.

They said it is such things that will make Ruto miss the Kongowea votes.

Biasha, however, said the claims were fuelled by some leaders in the market who rushed to a politician with interest in the Kongwea market and pocketed some money from them to neutralise the wave that the DP had created in the market.

“Some leaders in the market are too political. They are so much attached to politicians at the expense of genuine market traders. This should stop,” Biasha said.

The Star has learnt that Kongowea market, which has over 10,000 traders and more than 100,000 people using it daily, has become a hotbed of UDA versus ODM politics.

Politicians use market leaders to consolidate or woo support from the traders.

Edited by A.N