Nairobi shoppers frequenting Eastleigh malls decry toilets being locked as water shortage bites

For retail and wholesale customers, this is one of the go-to trade hubs for goods at a price that can then be marked up to make a profit.

Welcome to Eastleigh.

Where the state of the roads, dust, garbage, and chaos do not stop shoppers from seeking a deal.

However, the state of the economy has changed what one could previously buy.

Sarah Kimani tells Wananchi Reporting, “I have been frequenting Eastleigh regularly for many items I need, from fabrics for my clothes store to baby items for personal use.”

She continues, “However, what I could buy just over a year ago can hardly get me anything these days. We keep hearing about the effects of the depreciating dollar, but it’s when you actually go to buy items that it hits you how bad things have become. On the business side, it’s hard as I have to hike the price I sell my clothes, yet the customers don’t understand it’s not a profit on my end, but just trying to adjust for the costs I’ve incurred.”

Meanwhile, as Sarah and other Kenyans frequent the malls, there is a little spoken about issue that one needs to contend with and prepare themselves for before going to some of them – toilet matters.

In a section of malls, a persistent water shortage has led to mall operators putting toilets under lock and key to prevent dirty washrooms and possible spread of disease.

Therefore, should one visit these malls, they need to be ready to contend with ‘holding it in’ or locate the nearest city council washrooms they will rush to should they need to have a call of nature or more.

One shopper, Alice Mwende, said, “Water shortage has hit many parts of Nairobi, but when you need to go, you need to go. I went shopping at one of the malls and got a sudden urge to use the loo and since I knew where they were, I climbed the stairs to the top but I found a big padlock on the grill leading up to the toilet.”

Alice says upon asking for the key, stall owners gave her a perplexed look and told her the washrooms are not for use and she would have to look for a city council toilet because of the water shortage.

“I asked them what they use and they said even they have to use the paid city council toilets.”

Alice was left wondering what taxes are for and why she had to pay Ksh. 20 to use a toilet, which she however admitted was not in a pathetic state as she had imagined.

She went on to advise, “Be prepared whenever you go there. Between dodging being hit by bales being carried by hired porters who are hardly looking – or couldn’t care less about who is on their path as those bales are heavy – and jumping over piles of garbage or trying to avoid street hawkers’ wares, you need to be ready when you go there.”