CBD PROTEST: Kamukunji, Gikomba and Nyamakima traders are protesting against Lei Cheng and China Square Invasion as they are angry that common mwananchi are able to buy things at affordable prices

Kamukunji, Gikomba and Nyamakima traders are not protesting against China Square Invasion they are mad that common mwananchi are able to buy things at affordable prices.

A newly opened Chinese-owned supermarket in the Kenyan capital has closed its doors indefinitely amid an uproar from competitors over low-priced goods. China Square, located at Unicity Mall, 18km (11 miles) northeast of the city centre of Nairobi, said on Monday it was closing until further notice, citing public safety, operational issues and misleading statements online. The store said it was “unable to handle the high volume of traffic, which has become a severe concern for the public safety of all our customers, we are arranging more security guards onsite”. “Long queues have given our customers bad shopping experiences, and we are doing our best to resolve these issues within the closing-down period,” China Square owner Lei Cheng said.

The demo comes in the wake of controversy elicited by the coming of China Square retail outlet of general merchandise whose prices are on average 45 percent lower than those prevailing in locally owned enterprises.

The local traders insist that they should be left to control wholesale and retail ends of the value chain with some economic experts warning that this might defeat global concept of liberalisation of trade and usher in pricing cartels.

However, the proprietor of the now controversial China Square, Mr Lei Cheng, insists his business is legal and is centred on healthy competition. 

“We have cooperated with all government directives for opening a business in Kenya and we are here to break the monopoly. The people who are fighting us feel threatened because Kenyans now know we exist and we are not exploiting them in pricing,” Mr Cheng told Nationin an earlier interview. Cheng said some of the statements on the internet had misled the public, and some customers had overrated their services, creating unrealistic expectations. “We need to close down and give a cooling down period,” he said.

China Square opened on January 29, offering a range of household items, from kitchenware to furniture and hardware. The mall was immediately popular but Kenyan traders claimed that China Square cut them out of the market by selling its goods at a deep discount. The traders from various competing trading centres took their complaints to Kenyan deputy president Rigathi Gachagua last week, appealing for action and threatening to stage protests.