Panic Buying In Outlets Leads To Food Shortage

Presiding officer at ACK Nursery, Makueni constituency Michael Mwaka displays a spoilt presidential ballot. There have been concerns over the number of rejected votes which had hit more than 300,000 yesterday. PHOTO BY JAMES MAGAYI

BY PEOPLE REPORTER
WEDNESDAY, 6 MARCH, 2013

A run out of stock in Nairobi. The shortage has been occasioned by businessmen cutting their supplies in fear of incurring losses in case the outcome of Monday’s election turns violent as was the case in 2007.

The problem was also compounded by bulk buying by customers who feared suppliers will hoard their goods. Some of the commodities which have run out of stock in most outlets include milk and bread. In outlets where the goods are available, their prices have been hiked. A spot check revealed a 500ml packet of milk is retailing at between Sh50 and Sh55 compared to up from Sh45 last week.

Grocery stores are also experiencing the shortage. Vegetables and fruits are in short supply as retailers blamed the dwindling supplies to lack of transport. Faith Wanjiku, a carrot vendor at Marikiti market said they have bee experiencing low supplies since last Friday and the situation worsened yesterday when few suppliers showed up.

The shortage has led to increase in prices. According to Wanjiku, a bunch of kales which cost Sh20 is now Sh70 while a 10kg bucket of tomatoes has risen from Sh700 to Sh800. Joseph Opola, an onion vendor said the prices may go up if suppliers fail to deliver the commodities. “Suppliers are not willing to transport their products from the farms citing fears of the poll outcome,” he said.

He said truck drivers transporting farm produce to the market are unavailable as they had sought time off to vote. On Monday, shopping malls, supermarkets and other outlets were closed to allow workers to take part in the historic elections. Over the weekend, prices of food-stuff had skyrocketed while banks ans supermarkets witnessed long queues. In Kisumu, business owners either reduced stock or closed. “A lot of people are reducing these items and stocking basic s that are required on a day-to-day basis,” sais Sags Shah who works at a supermarket in the town.