During unrest period the lakeside town has suffered severe looting and property destruction. It happened due to an acute shortage of customers forcing most eating outlets to remain closed. According to a survey business community in Kenya has lost nearly three billion shillings in the riots. In this unrest Kenyan fishing industry suffered a major set back which will take three years to recover.
The survey of Business Daily found that there is a severe shortage of fish- a delicacy in the town. And this had left many operators without a key item in their menus forcing them to downscale their operations. Susan Agutu, the manager of Beach Hotel, said the restaurant had suffered a loss of Sh240,000 since the skirmishes began.
It is also reported that the majority of fishermen are still living under great financial crunch and they hesitate to start work fearing loss of their catch due to a paralysis of the transport system. Forceful eviction and displacement of some of the fishermen from Kisumu has left the hoteliers without customers. Even the vegetables are also running short. According to the Kisumu City Business Association (KCBA) the town would take the next 20 years to reconstruct what it has lost in this recent unrest, especially the fishing industry.
