Mandera residents have urged the government to upscale security in the region for business to thrive.
Valtazaras Ouma a jua kali artisan asked the government to do more in curbing the continuing insecurity wave in the border county.
Ouma who spoke to the press in Mandera town said business has stalled following recent kidnapping of Cuban doctors within the Central Business District (CBD).
Businesses remained closed for the better part of the day as residents stayed away from their areas of work.
Abdirashid Muktar , a resident, on his part blamed the government for not organizing the labour day celebration.
He asked the government to organize for the celebrations in future to enable residents air their labour grievances.
Mandera youth leader Abdijabal Hassan said area youths have nothing to celebrate as many of them are jobless.
Hassan asked the county government to adhere to the 30 per cent constitutional rule on tenders awarded to the marginalised groups in the society.
“The county government should give more tenders to the youth so that they can build capital for investment,” said Hassan.
He instead blamed the county government for demolishing business structures at the expense of job creation.
The celebrations have never been marked in Mandera with several sectors of the working fraternity being underpaid.
For instance security guards are paid less than Sh. 10,000 with house helps getting a meager Sh. 8,000.
By Dickson Githaiga /Zakariya Abdullahi