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Residents of Migori town on Monday, March 13 held anti-government demonstrations following Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya leader Raila Odinga‘s call for countrywide mass action over the cost of living.

The demonstrations happened as the county is preparing to host Lake Region Economic Block (LREB).

The regional summit is expected to last for three days beginning March 14.

Angry residents carrying twigs, empty sufurias, and cooking sticks converged around Migori Town Bridge which they blocked using boulders.

“We are out of the streets to call for the high cost of living and inflation to be tackled,” Eric Opany, county ODM youth leader said.

The busy road connecting Kenya and Tanzania was blocked as vehicles and motorists chose an alternative route to town.

The business community was forced to close down their shops for fear of a spate of looting.

The demonstrators marched towards Migori County Commissioner’s office in the town demanding police to lob teargas at them.

Residents decry lose of business

According to Anne Juma, a business lady, the demonstrations might affect their businesses as they aimed at making profits out of the summit.

“We are having a regional meeting of 14 counties for three days starting tomorrow. We thought we were to get a booming business but we are now afraid,” Anne Juma, a trader said.

Juma said demonstrators have been asking businesses to close down.

“The main venue of the event will be at Migori County Stadium which is in the epicenter of the demonstrations, but we are hopeful the event will go on,” she said.

Traders are afraid the demonstrations will get worse ahead of March 20 deadline placed by the ODM leader.

The summit brings together counties in the entire Nyanza and Western regions and part of Rift Valley including Kericho, Bomet, and Trans Nzoia.

Last week, LREB chief executive officer Victor Nyagaya and governor Ochillo Ayacko met and said they expected a good turnout.

They said the 14 member counties of the economic block should leverage their potential for energy production for both domestic and industrial use.

Nyagaya stressed the need for infrastructural development, which he said is a pillar to attaining the objectives of LREB.

The CEO who was in Migori for preparations for the 11th LREB summit to be hosted at the county said among their achievements in the health sector include the drone medicine deliveries system in Kisumu.

The technology-driven initiative, he said, is used to reach remote parts of the county and save on wastage of time transporting drugs.

Ayacko on his side expressed optimism about unlocking water transport within Lake Victoria region.

Ayacko at the same note that Migori county has a huge agricultural and tourism potential that should be tapped for economic gains.

He added that matters blue economy, climate change, and sustainable development will dominate the upcoming event.