Senator demands action against wholesalers selling directly to consumers
By Arnold Ngure, July 23, 2025Nominated Senator Hezena Lemaletian has demanded that action be taken against traders from other counties selling goods in wholesale directly to consumers in Samburu County.
In a statement on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, Lemaletian sought a statement from the Senate Standing Committee on Trade, Industrialization, and Tourism regarding the influx of wholesale traders from other counties into Samburu County over the matter.
“Local business owners in Maralal, Baragoi, Archers Post, Wamba, and Suguta Marmar urban centres in Samburu County have raised the alarm over the influx of traders from outside the county who transport goods in lorries and engage in wholesale trade directly with consumers,” she said.
Disrupting market dynamics
Lemaletian informed the Senate that the trading activities have disrupted local market dynamics and threatened the survival of local small and medium-sized enterprises in Samburu County.
In her request, Lemaletian wants the Committee to identify the regulatory framework established by the County Government of Samburu to govern the entry into and operation within Samburu County by traders from other counties, including whether these traders are subject to the same licensing fees and levies as local traders.
Additionally, the lawmaker asked the Committee to establish the enforcement mechanisms in place to ensure that traders from other counties comply with Samburu County’s trade and market laws.
Unfair competition
The Committee is expected to specify the steps the county government is taking to protect local small and medium-sized enterprises in Samburu County from unfair competition.
This comes just months after the senator demanded a comprehensive report on all the roads in Samburu County, noting that most of them were in a state of disrepair and hindered transportation and business in the county.
“The Roads Committee must disclose to the Senate the total budgetary allocation in the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 Financial Years for road construction, repair, and maintenance by the County Government of Samburu,” the senator stated.
“They also need to disclose how the budget has been distributed among various road projects with details of the specific allocations for different road segments and specify how much has been utilized so far on new road construction projects and for maintenance of existing ones,” she requested.