Residents complain of high prices of foodstuffs

The heavy presence of Kenyan Defence Force personnel along the border and inside Somalia had a major impact on a thriving illegal cross-border trade which affected prices of food and other commodities in parts of North Eastern Province.

Residents who used to pay low prices for commodities like sugar, rice, cooking fat and powdered milk are feeling the pinch as prices have shot up, hurting business in border towns and refugee camps of Daadab.

Mandera County, which is almost 1,100 km from Nairobi, is the worst affected by Operation Linda Nchi that has paralysed the major economic lifeline of Al-Shabaab — smuggling goods from Kismayu and Mogadishu into Kenya. The Somali capital of Mogadishu is much closer to Mandera than Nairobi.

The merchandise comes from the Middle East as well as Asia and Europe.

Councillor Salah Alio of Mandera County Council says life is becoming unbearable in Mandera since goods from Nairobi are so expensive residents cannot afford them.

He said it was worse in the rainy season when the roads from Nairobi were impassable and food from Somalia was locked out by the Kenyan Defence Forces.

“We are between a rock and a hard place and we are appealing to the government to officially gazette trade between Kenya and Ethiopia through Malka Suftu entry point,’’ said Mr Salah of Qalaliyow East ward.

He says the business communities in Mandera, Ethiopia and Somalia has a proposal to form a Triangular Business Council that will promote healthy business and generate revenue to the Kenyan Government and end cross-border smuggling.

Border towns such as Holugho, Liboi Amuma and the refugee camps of Dadaab that host more than 450,000 Somali refugees have been especially affected by the operation.

“Since the border was closed, transporters no longer risk their vehicles on the cutline roads, which are being patrolled by security forces to curb entry of Al-Shabaab insurgents into the country,’’ said Yussuf Adan, a trader at Hagardera refugee camp.

He said the only hope for traders and consumers was Nairobi but the prices of almost all commodities had tripled.

But some leaders are asking the government not to interfere with operations at Kismayu port once they take it over from Al-Shabaab.

“The government should know that Kismayu is our major source of goods in North Eastern Province and they should allow free movement of goods as long as the Kenya Revenue Authority is collecting revenues,” said Councillor Bishar Gure of Liboi.

Before the operation, a kilogramme of sugar cost between Sh60 and Sh70 in the border towns but today it costs more than Sh350.

“I used to buy a 50 kilogramme bag of sugar for Sh3,850 but I am now buying it from wholesalers in Garissa and Nairobi for Sh10,250,” said Nasri Mohamud, a trader in Ifo refugee camp.

Presently it is hard to come across a bag of rice in most of the border towns and it has now to be bought from Nairobi. It is the same thing with cooking fat, which would cost Nasri Sh2,000 for 20 litres.

Rice is a staple food in this arid region and people are feeling the pinch because it is scarce.

Mohamed Bashir, a resident of Holugho town who spoke to the Nation by phone, said the military operation had widely affected households as commodities were scarce and unaffordable.