An Onion At Ksh 30, Irish Potato At Ksh 1,000, Prices In Eastleigh Double

Prices of basic commodities in Eastleigh doubled on the first day of parliament lockdown where the government imposed an “immediate cessation of movement in and out of Eastleigh for 15 days.”

The move to lock down Eastleigh was arrived at after cases of Covid-19 increased in the area, making it the leading in Nairobi in terms of the number of confirmed cases.

The announcement has since seen the skyrocketing of prices of basic commodities such as maize flour, onions, tomatoes, and Irish potatoes.

A heap of Irish potatoes that was going for 500 shillings on Wednesday was retailing between 1,000 and 1,500 shillings on Thursday. An Onion that was going for 5 and 10 shillings on Wednesday was on Thursday going for 50 shillings.

Tomatoes were completely off the market with the few traders who had some selling one between 40 and 55 shillings. Vegetables such as Sukuma wiki were absent on various markets within Eastleigh as traders remained indoors.

There is also a shortage of airtime (scratch cards) in Eastleigh. Few traders with airtime left to sell have hard to increase their prices to “make a killing”. For instance, 50-shilling airtime is going for 75 shillings while 100-shilling airtime is going for 150 shillings.

The streets remained empty on Thursday with the locals blaming the police for not allowing essential services such as those selling water and other amenities to access the area.

A section of residents held a demonstration on Wednesday against the lockdown order saying it was hurting their businesses and livelihood.

In Mombasa Old Town, another area under lockdown, residents called on the government to lift the lockdown saying the move has inconvenienced the majority of them who have no food to feed their families.

Old Town is the leading area in Mombasa with the highest number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 with locals keeping off the free testing drive by both the national and county government.

READ: Eastleigh Migration: Why Decision To Shutdown Will Forever Be Regretted