>>BY ANN MUTETE>>
Mombasa residents who purchase foodstuff from the Kongowea market will have to dig deeper into their pockets when buying commodities.
This follows an increase in fresh produce prices due to a truck drivers strike which started on Monday.
Following the strike, the usually bustling Kongowea market saw an unexpected slowdown in business on Tuesday resulting from delays in food trucks leaving vendors with empty stalls and frustrated customers.
A sense of disappointment settled over the market due to lack of commodities forcing traders to increase prices on the only food commodities they had.
Buyers though disappointed had no option but to purchase the priced foods.
Kongowea vendors are now pleading with the county government to rescue and save their source of income.
“The issue we are currently facing is the increase in tax on our stalls, we lack the means to comply thus we are asking the county government to aid us,” Bensus Mwere, a trader at Kongowea said.
The traders also complained of heavy rains that ruined their commodities and blockage of the market drainage systems leading to dirty and unhealthy working conditions.
The strike by the truck drivers also stems from what they claim is high taxes.
