'Tumetumwa': Traders narrate how goons stormed shops, stole goods worth millions
Stagematt highway and Westend supermarkets remain with broken windows and empty shelves after goons looted the stores during saba saba protests on July 7,2025.
Kevin Kimani, founder of Floor Solutions Kenya, had a rough day yesterday (July 7.) He narrates how at around 1 pm, protestors stormed the shop complex in Barnabas.
From atop a building, Kimani says he saw the protestors smash his glass-paned door and run off with his carpets.
Alarmed, Kimani dashed off to his shop to plead with the protestors in an attempt to stop the looting. By the time they came to an understanding, a good number of his products had already been stolen.
Kevin Kimani, founder of Floor Solutions Kenya,showing damages on his shop on July 8, after protestors stormed his shop during saba saba protest
“I am counting a loss of about Sh3.4 million after most of the carpets and interior design items were stolen,” Kimani sadly states.
Surprisingly, he says the youth repeatedly told him they had been sent to cause mayhem and could therefore not spare his shop.
“They kept saying tumetumwa but did not tell me on whose orders they were acting,” a visibly shaken Kimani recounts.
Now forced to pick up the pieces of glasses he didn’t break, (literally) he says he will invest in steel doors as opposed to the previous glass-framed doors. Although this is an extra cost, he is willing to bear the expenses.
At the same premises, StageMatt Highway is also counting millions of losses. The chain store director, Viral Shah, notes that the looters stormed their supermarket and Warehouse, making away with nearly everything in the store, while damaging what was left on the shelves.
StageMatt chain store director, Viral Shah,during an interview on July 8 ,after their outlet in Barnabas was looted by protestors during Saba Saba protest.
“I could not believe what I was seeing. A man was running with a fridge on his back. Ordinarily, this fridge would need at least two to three people to carry it safely. I could not do anything. Most people ran past me carrying different items. We have incurred a loss of Sh70 million loss,” Shah says, in disbelief.
He adds that although the business was insured, he is not quite sure how long it would take to rebuild and have his employees back at work.
“It may take months or years to get back on our feet. However, all I know is I will not leave my employees behind. No one will be laid off. We will walk through this hard time together,” he says, assuring his staff of job security.
However, the aftermath of these demos was not only being faced by business owners, but also employees.
Mirriam Ng’ang’a, a StageMatt employee, says she had been working at the Highway branch since 2022 along with 55 other employees.
Mirriam Ng’ang’a, a StageMatt employee, says damages met at outlet will see them out of work for several months which will affect them.
“My family and two children are depending on this job to go by. I wonder how we will survive before the shop is up and running again,” she says, pleading with protestors not to damage property while protesting.
On the other side of town, tension still rented the air in Free Area, as many residents shied away from talking about what transpired the previous day to the media.
A view of Free Area which was the hotspot of protests in Nakuru on July 7,2025.
At West End Supermarket, located across the highway from Free Area market, the shattered glass spoke loudly of the damage that had transpired during the protest.
More was hidden behind the shut doors as protestors broke into the shop and made away with goods of unknown value.
As Nakuru slowly comes to terms with what transpired on Monday, traders are now left to painfully rebuild their businesses.