A broke Christmas that’s breaking traditions

The festive season is a time of road trips, shopping, lounging at the beach and general merry-making. But with few days to Christmas, is situation the same on the ground? LIFESTYLE TEAM @peopledailyke It is just a few days to Christmas and that means the long festive season is here. However, the jolly Christmas mood is yet to sink. It seems Christmas isn’t Christmas anymore. For Allan Maina, a matatu driver in Nairobi and a father of two, Christmas happens to be his worst day. He is among the many Kenyans who won’t be celebrating— he will be at work. He says his focus is January because the children would be opening school and will require a lot of money for fees, books and uniforms. “I have nothing substantial planned for Christmas. I will just go on with work. If there won’t be people travelling, I’ll stay with my family at home then later in the day, go out for meals and drinks,” says Maina. It is no different for David Ochieng a mkokoteni puller. He is a father of four who are all looking forward to a fun-filled memorable Christmas. Although he is a sole provider, Christmas is something he has to force himself to forget. His worry is lack of money, especially with the hard economic times. Window shopping “Christmas comes with a lot of expectations. But it’s not my priority. We would have loved to travel upcountry, but the economy is bad and the business has terribly gone down. I can’t worry about Christmas if I do not know what my family will eat in the evening,” laments Ochieng. As for Onesmus Mweu a father of five, he plans to have a simple day. “I will travel upcountry to be with my family. My budget will be around Sh7,000 because I don’t want to spend much and forget January when children will be going back to school,” he says. Perhaps that explains why shop owners are yet to witness the usual upsurge in business normally associated with the long festive season. This year has done little to rescue what may be the worst year for business people who have observed broke customers window-shop in their outlets without buying. Phylis Matere, who operates a cloth business along Tom Mboya Street is facing a downturn. Her business has been struggling for the better part of this year “I am yet to understand what has happened this year. It seems everybody has no money and businesses are not doing well. I am glad that the interest cap, which I think is the cause of these hardships, has been lifted. I hope 2020 brings better fortunes,” she says. Downward spiral Miriam Maina, who sells children’s shoes in Kamukunji says although she has got a number of clients this month, she cannot compare the numbers to previous years. “I have been selling shoes here for close to seven years and since 2017, things have been taking a downward spiral. This Christmas season, it seems we will be grappling with the same difficulties,” says Miriam. It is also a loss situation for restaurants as customer numbers remain the same as the rest of the year. According to Steve Mutungi, a manager at Backyard Bowls restaurant along Mombasa Road, business has taken a dive. “At a time like this three years ago, we would be forced to employ more staff and increase stock, but we are finding ourselves in a situation where we are having to boost our marketing campaigns, cut back on stock and adjust staffing levels,” he explains. Fred Baraka, a financial consultant agrees that Kenyan are experiencing bad economic times and only the very well paid, those earning Sh200,000 and above or those who have been saving diligently are taking breaks to enjoy this season. That could explain why the standard gauge railway (SGR) passenger train service between Nairobi and Mombasa is fully booked ahead of Christmas, because the fare remains constant at Sh1,000. Grace Kimani tried booking SGR almost a month ago, but couldn’t find a direct ticket to Mombasa. “I thought booking a ticket a month in advance is a safe idea, but I was shocked. So I had to seek an alternative. I also tried the option of booking inter counties ticket, but you only find tickets from Nairobi to Athi, then from Voi you find it’s fully booked,” she says. Road transport to various destinations is experiencing the same challenges. Buses that are going upcountry are either booked or the fares have sky rocketed. Ena coach for example, is charging Sh1,800 from Nairobi to Kisumu up from Sh1,000. Easy Coach, which is normally cheaper is fully booked, but goes for Sh1400 from Nairobi to Kisumu. Air fares seem to be moderate—an economy class air ticket with Kenya Airways to Mombasa from Nairobi is going for Sh 10,000. Yet another domestic airline known as Skyward Express has available flights, going for Sh8,000 one way and 12,000 return ticket. Tickets to Kisumu, however are a bit pricy. A one way ticket to Kisumu with Skyward express is Sh16000 while a return ticket goes for about Sh24000. But compared to Nairobi, hoteliers in Mombasa are experiencing booming business. The Kenya Coast Working Group Chairman Hasnain Noorani says a peaceful business environment in the coast has greatly boosted the tourism industry, which was adversely affected by the prolonged electioneering period as well as travel advisories and terror threats in 2017. Hope for hoteliers Though the economy is not good, the hotel industry has started feeling the effects of the absence of politicking and threats with an increase in both domestic and regional tourist bookings. “Hotel bookings and occupancies have tremendously increased this month. This has been attributed to a peaceful environment experienced in the country as well as enhanced security. SGR and increased frequencies of local low-cost carriers flying to the coastal towns has also played a big role,” said Noorani who is also Group Managing Director at PrideInn Hotels. PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort & Spa General Manager Ann Peggy says they are expecting bookings to go up to 99 percent by next week. “We are expecting both local and regional tourists even though the majority of our guests are local holidaymakers. This years’ long school holiday has played a big role in room occupancy. Bookings are so far close to 95 percent, by next week we shall be fully booked,” said Peggy. At the Lake Naivasha Panorama Hotel in Naivasha things are the same with all the rooms fully booked up to next year. A quick trial to book a room indicated that the hotel has no rooms left. Nancy Wanja an IT consultant based in Mombasa and a mother of three says her plan is to travel to Nakuru over Christmas. She says although things have been tough this year, she still hopes to give her family the best Christmas experience. “You know children do not care about the economy, especially during the Christmas season. They just want to have a good time and I want to give them that despite the hard times that we are experiencing as a nation,” she says. - Reporting by Betty Muindi, Milliam Murigi, Ann Nyathira, and Faith Kyoumukama

A broke Christmas that’s breaking traditions

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