This archive report was first published on 13 August 2019.
On Thursday, President Uhuru Kenyatta will lead East African leaders in opening the revamped Kisumu Port, which has been in the works for over three decades. However, the final preparations for the port's opening have come with a mixed bag of fortunes for residents and traders.
While the port will provide job opportunities for seafarers, a number of traders have lost their businesses to demolitions, which aim to open the lakefront for the operationalisation of the port. The final round of demolitions saw more than 3,000 traders evicted, with Winmatt Business Centre and Lake Market being flattened.
Dr. George Opande, director of Winmatt Centre, watched helplessly as bulldozers flattened the business he had built for years. "It is sad indeed. Many families are going to feel the impact of this demolition, and no sane Government should do this to its people," he said.
Opande claimed that his business was not part of the establishments on the Kenya Railways Corporation land, despite the demolitions targeting traders who had set up shop on corporation land. The centre had at least 200 shops and supported over 2,000 traders directly and indirectly.
Tabitha Ougo, a trader at Winmatt, expressed her concerns about the demolitions, saying that most traders were caught off guard and were unsure of how to rebuild their lives.
However, some residents were optimistic about the port's opening, with some applying for job opportunities advertised by Kenya Railways Corporation. The corporation had advertised 30 temporary job openings, including positions on refurbished vessels such as MV Uhuru.
County Director of Communication Aloice Ager said that the county government had done its part in preparing for the port's opening, which included opening up the lakefront.
