Businessmen who had printed the National Super Alliance (NASA) RESIST T-shirts and caps are counting losses after the Opposition postponed a planned swearing-in of its leader Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka.
The traders who had received big orders, mostly from NASA strongholds, are now stuck with heaps of materials after their customers failed to turn up following the cancellation which was announced by NASA co-principal and Amani National Congress leader Musalia Mudavadi.
“Everything was going right until the announcement by Mudavadi. We have made huge losses,” said Ken Aol who was due to make delivery to Kisumu, Kakamega and Busia. Aol said he spent all his savings to print the T-shirts and caps and was sure he would get good returns, going by the order he received.
“It was massive. I was forced to reject other orders because I could not meet the demand,” he said.
He now blames the NASA leadership for his woes, saying had the planned ceremony not been cancelled, he would be a happy man. Aol said he has thousands of T-shirts, in his premises, but the customers are not picking his calls or making any commitments on when to collect and pay for them.
Kennedy Ogari who operates a printing shop in down town Nairobi is also counting losses. He told The Nairobian that he had many orders from Kisii, Migori and Mombasa, but has now been forced to halve the price after some of his clients abandoned him with the materials after the cancellation.
Ogari is however hopeful that Raila will be sworn in and give his business a good break.
“I hope Baba won’t take long before he is sworn in. Failure to do so will be a big disappointment to his supporters,” he said.
Ogari is however lucky to have delivered his first batch to Migori earlier, unlike some of his colleagues who were waiting to deliver at the last minute.
Ken Adienge, a NASA supporter from Homa Bay has accused the NASA trio of Raila, Kalonzo and Mudavadi of being too timid to lead the country.
“If we had people like Senator Jonstone Muthama, Babu Owino and Bonny Khalwale at the helm, the swearing in would have even been done before Uhuru’s,” he told The Nairobian on phone.
He is even threatening to withdraw his support for NASA if they fail to fix a date for the swearing in as promised.
“Baba must be very careful. If he won’t be sworn in, let him not come back to us with flimsy reasons,” he added.
The resist merchandise are a big hit with NASA diehards, with a cap going for Sh500, and a T-shirt for between Sh1,500 and Sh2,000, depending on the material. A full combat RESIST gear goes for Sh5,000.
-sde.co.ke
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