Mixed fortunes for Kisumu’s Kondele as key changes beckon

To many Kenyans, the mention of Kondele in Kisumu brings a mental image of burning tyres, barricaded roads and election violence.

However, there is more to this satellite town. For instance, it runs a 24-hour economy, as busy during the day as it is at night.

Located on the Kisumu-Kakamega highway, the face of Kondele is now set to change after the government recently unveiled plans to build a road network and bypass, part of a plan to ease congestion.

Despite the promise, Mr Kennedy Omondi, who runs a logistics business in Kondele, is not a happy man.

In an interview with the Saturday Nation, he lamented that he and other traders had received a notice to vacate and pave the way for road expansion.

“We support the development of Kondele but are requesting the county government to intervene and offer us an alternative. Kondele is the heartbeat of Kisumu in terms of business and we cannot just be pushed out like that,” Mr Omondi said.

JOBS

He said many of the youth had not been hired for the ongoing road works in the area and this, in his view, had left them prone to crime.

Like a coin, Kondele has two sides. One moment you will be enjoying life blissfully. The next, you will find yourself attracting the wrath of its residents when your thinking and theirs diverge.

"It is a hotspot and one has to tread carefully while there,” Mr Audi Ogada, Kisumu City Residents Voice chairman, said.

According to Mr Omondi, despite its fame, Kondele has no public toilet. "This is an oversight on the part of the county government,” he said.

However, Health minister Rosemary Obara said plans are underway to build public toilets in the town, which also has a big market. Mr Ogada recently described Kondele as "the nerve centre of Kisumu".

“If Kondele is cool, then Kisumu is peaceful,” Mr Ogada said.

HANDOUTS

Several hotels, bars and other businesses have set up shop there, profiting from the spending habits of the growing number of people attracted to it.

Besides those engaged in genuine businesses, there’s also a clique of jobless youth who have mastered politicians’ vehicle number plates and will not hesitate to stop them to ask for handouts.

“They seat along the Kisumu-Kakamega Highway just a few metres from the Kondele flyover where they time the politicians,” a tout who preferred anonymity said.

Despite its allure, Kondele remains a politically volatile area "where you can easily be neutralised if you don’t subscribe to some of the resident's socio-economic and political ideologies”.

Its vibrancy also brings with it negative attributes. Here, prostitution and criminal activities thrive despite the existence of a police station just at the heart of the town. And the area has more bars than churches.

“This affects education institutions here. But with the emergence of supermarkets and bookshops they can complement each other particularly with improved roads,” an official of a teachers' union said.

BUSINESS

However, there is more to it than just the dark side. Kondele’s location is vital for the surrounding estates of Manyatta, Obunga, Nyawita, Car Wash, Migosi, Lolwe and Kenya Re whose residents find it easy to buy commodities from the nearby supermarkets.

Currently, it has three main supermarkets namely; Choppies, Tumaini and Lemigo Dala.

In the past, Kondele has borne the brunt of political violence especially during presidential elections.

The history of violence dates back to 1969 when founding President Jomo Kenyatta clashed with his first Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga after the latter formed the Kenya Peoples’ Union.

President Kenyatta was in Kisumu to preside over the official opening of the Soviet-built New Nyanza Hospital (Russia).

He travelled to Kisumu on October 25, 1969 to open the hospital barely four months after the assassination of Mr Tom Mboya.

VIOLENCE

However, the ceremony culminated into bloodshed with the presidential guard and the police shooting more than 50 people dead when a commotion occurred.

The confrontation saw the former president exchange bitter words with Jaramogi. “That was a scene from hell. We were lucky to come out alive,” Mama Leah Ndaga - who was present during the melee - recalled.

Mr Zablon Awange, the Kisumu Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers executive secretary said even though he was not present at the time of the fracas, he believes that was when the “radicalisation of Kondele” began.

According to him, Kondele is the epicentre of socio-economic and political activities and informs reaction for the various issues affecting the region.