NAIROBI, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Ongoing heavy rains in Kenya have disrupted activities for citizens, with the small traders being among the worst-hit.
The traders who include vegetable, clothes, cooked food, fruits and shoe sellers are counting losses due to the heavy rains.
The rains started on March 1 and would continue until May, according to the Meteorological Department, though the intensity would differ during the period.
In the capital of Nairobi, those worst-affected include hawkers who walk around selling their wares.
Their biggest market is usually the city's notorious traffic jams, some that last over four hours during morning and evening peak times.
On Monday and Tuesday, it rained the better part of morning and evening, and the best the hawkers did was to look from far as the rains disrupted business.
"I usually sell goods worth up to 20 U.S. dollars both in the morning and evening especially when it is end month and people have earned but this month the rains did not allow me," Nelson Ndungu, who operates along Uhuru Highway, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
With the heavy rains, Ndungu cannot reach potential customers due to floods and commuters also lock the windows of vehicles.
Besides, his wares that include newspapers early morning and secondhand clothes in the evening get drenched in the rains.
Also affected are traders at the East African nation's biggest secondhand items market.
Some traders, especially those who spread their merchandise in the open, have been forced to close their businesses altogether.
But there is little difference with those who sell under shades because the market is currently one large pool of mud.
"When it rains business is bad. People don't reach the market because of the heavy mud since the floor has no tarmac or cabro. You open in the morning and close in the evening without making any sales," lamented Joyce Mongima, who sells dresses.
She noted that she only sold a dress worth 2 dollars, with her plight mirroring that of tens of traders at the market, some who have closed shop waiting for rains to subside.
Motorbike taxi operators (boda boda) are an unhappy lot as the rains drive away business.
"Most of us don't have shades, so when it rains we have to stop business and go elsewhere for cover. It becomes worse when the downpour goes on continually. These are tough times," Amos Sifuna, a boda boda operator in Kitengela said.
In the suburb, as many others on the outskirts of Nairobi, some roads have become impassable when it rains further cutting business for the riders.
The roads are either too muddy or flooded with water, with the situation risking lives of both the riders and his passengers.
Public transport operators (matatus) are equally counting losses as the rains have cut the number of trips one can make from the estates to the central business district due to heavy traffic jams.
"If there are no rains, I normally make up to eight trips to and from the city centre but with the rains, I can barely make five because of the heavy jam," said Antony Musumi, a matatu driver on the Kayole route.
Musumi noted that the less trips are the reasons matatu operators hike fares by up to 100 percent to compensate for lost income.
The World Bank notes that rains have negative impact on the economy since they lead to lost business, damage of property, destruction of crops, roads and loss of human life.
However, the positive impact of the rains is that they boost food and power production, two components that contribute to higher inflation.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, food alone accounts for 36 percent of items used to calculate monthly inflation figures, while transport, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels account for a further 27 percent of the consumer basket.
"Small traders are counting losses because of the poor environment they operate in, for instance, markets have no shades which makes it difficult during the rains. But we should not look at the negative side only, rains bring business opportunities for instance for the sellers of umbrellas, those who trade in warm clothes, maize roasters and coffee houses as people want to keep warm," said Ernest Manuyo, a business management lecturer.
