Cancelled devolution meeting leaves traders counting losses

Calls to compensate traders who had been contracted to supply goods and services at the seventh devolution conference have intensified.

The Council of Governors on Thursday called off the four-day event that was to take off yesterday in Wote Town, Makueni County, citing fears of a spike in Covid-19 infections.

Sparked an outcry

The last-minute cancellation has sparked an outcry from traders who are counting losses amounting to millions of shillings.

Traders who had supplied and installed dome tents and hundreds of chairs at the venue were still dismantling them on Sunday.

At Wote, the business community counted losses on Monday, the day they expected to make a kill from the conference.

“We had already bought all the perishable foodstuffs from Nairobi and put our catering team ready by the time the Council of Governors announced the cancellation,” a frustrated Ms Christine Mutua said.

She added Governor Kivutha Kibwana asked the conference organisers to hurriedly establish a mechanism to ensure those contracted to supply goods and services are compensated.

Dozens of traders made similar calls.

Mr David Masika, the proprietor of Kusyombunguo Hotels in Wote Town, where most of the dignitaries had been booked, said he had suffered at least Sh10 million loss.

“Most of the beef, chicken, fish and fresh fruits and vegetables suppliers had already delivered. Although the costly renovations we did will remain, the food will go to waste since we had cancelled other bookings in the wake of our engagement with the Council of Governors,” Mr Masika said.

“All those contracted to provide meals had mobilised expensive equipment, foodstuffs and catering teams by the time the conference was cancelled. We have lost at least Sh30 million,” said Mr Antony Ngunga, the chairman of an association of caterers and hoteliers in the region.

Mr Ngunga and Mr Masika asked the traders to compile realistic inventories of what they had already supplied and indicate the amounts they expected to make to assist in making claims with the organisers of the conference.

Enough measures

This is the third time the Council of Governors has postponed the conference citing fears of a spike in Covid-19 infections.

“We had done everything well as we had been advised in readiness for the conference. ..

“There were enough measures in place to ensure that only those fully vaccinated against Covid-19 attended,” said Joshua Wambua, a county executive committee member.

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