Traders at Mur Malanga Market in Siaya are up in arms against the county government for allegedly doing nothing to improve the sanitation in the area.
And the irate traders have issued a one week ultimatum to the devolved unit to improve hygiene and sanitation failure to which they will boycott taxation.
Speaking to the media at the market centre in Alego – Usonga Constituency, the traders led by John Odhiambo Ogondi and Carren Anyango lamented that the market had neither a pit latrine nor a proper drainage system hence exposing them to the risk of contracting diseases.
The business community said they are forced to visit the nearby thickets whenever pressed, as owners of building nearby often locked their toilets.
“We have been getting a raw deal from the county government despite the taxes that we have been paying,” they said warning that at the expiry of the ultimatum, the authorities should not send tax collectors if they will not have improved the situation.
They said that the revenue collectors have been confiscating their goods while shop owners have had their premises locked for failure to pay the county government fees.
“It is a pity that the county officials are always eager to collect the taxes and would not hesitate to confiscate our wares when we delay,” lamented Ogondi
Ogondi called on the South East Alego Member of the County Assembly, Joseph Mboha to help them seek a lasting solution from the county government so that they could operate uninterrupted.
By Philip Onyango
