By Eugene Kioko
The business community around Machakos University is counting loses following the sudden closure of the institution in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Students at the university left for home following a directive by the national government that all learning institutions be closed.
The traders who depend on the student population are feeling the pinch as the Covid-19 disease continues to disrupt lives all over the world.
Cyber Cafes, hotels, shops and other businesses in the vicinity of the university with about 8,000 students begun to close for lack of customers.
Second-hand cloth dealers along the Machakos-Wote road were not spared either as the bulk of the customers are students at the institution.
The traders said although health and safety was paramount, the drastic move by the government to shut down institutions of learning was going to have a big effect on the economy.
Jim Kitonga, who runs a Cyber Café opposite the university gate, said the move to close the university indefinitely had hit his business hard.
“There are no more customers. We depend on students who come to print and photocopy academic-related works here but now they are gone and we do not know for how long,” said Kitonga adding that he was not sure of whether to continue paying rent for the business premises.
At the same time the County Government of Machakos directed all traders to ensure their premises had a water point where customers coming into the premises could wash their hands in a bid to prevent the spread of the virus which has killed thousands of people globally
Businesses count loses as university closes
A deserted Cyber Cafe near Machakos University. Businesses around the university are feeling the pinch after the sudden closure of the universities which was occassoned by coronavirus fears. Photo/ Eugene Kioko.
