This archive report was first published on 20 June 2020.
COVID-19 Restrictions Devastate Small-Scale Traders in Mombasa ¶
June 20, 2020
Abdulrazak Abubakar, a 36-year-old restaurant owner, is facing an uncertain future as COVID-19 restrictions continue to affect his business.
Despite the lifting of the partial lockdown in Old Town, Mombasa, on June 6, Abubakar's restaurant in Mtwapa, Kilifi county, remains shut due to the restrictions.
With three months of unpaid rent arrears and employees demanding support, Abubakar is struggling to keep his business afloat.
'I have a family which depends on me, since these restrictions were imposed, I was forced to stay at home, no income, no nothing and I have bills to foot on a daily basis,' Abubakar said.
Abubakar's case represents the dilemma many other small-scale traders, who live in Mombasa and have business outside the county or vice versa, have to bear with.
Another trader, Said Bakhressa, 55, lost a construction contract after he was locked up in the Old Town and is now struggling to start afresh.
'Lots of people are suffering paying rental arrears for businesses that have no income, the government has abandoned us,' Bakhressa said.
