The small-scale traders who operate daily at Kiburu trading centre in Ndia Constituency say they can no longer run their businesses as debt collectors pursue them day and night, forcing some to spend nights in their neighbours' houses.
A group of women traders in Kirinyaga County are living in fear after small loans they took from informal micro-lenders turned into a cycle of harassment and ballooning debt, forcing them to spend their time hiding.
The women, mostly small-scale traders who operate daily at Kiburu trading centre in Ndia Constituency, say they can no longer run their businesses as debt collectors pursue them day and night, forcing some to spend nights in their neighbours' houses.
Faith Ndanu, Joyce Wanjiru and Edith Wacera from Kiburu trading centre say they now spend most of their time hiding to evade the lenders.
Faith Ndanu, a trader from Kiburu, said she has been forced to close her business.
"They came to my business and gave me Ksh.10,000 and told me to pay monthly, but now they are demanding Ksh. 50,000. They come daily demanding Ksh 3,000," she said.
The traders accuse the lenders of charging exorbitant interest and using intimidation tactics to recover money.
"They are harassing us in our businesses and we are unable to pay. I am now forced to hide in my neighbour's house," said one of the affected women.
Catherine, another trader in Kiburu, narrated how she was lured with a promise to boost her business.
"They came to my business and told me they would give me money to boost my business. They gave me Ksh 20,000 and I pay Ksh 2,800 every two weeks. It is a heavy burden, and despite paying, the loan balance does not reduce," she said.
According to Edith Wacera, the lenders target market days in Kirinyaga and harass women who operate in the market daily.
"They go to our businesses to give us loans and right now our businesses have collapsed because we spend our days hiding. Can you imagine we cannot do our business or work for our daily bread because we spend a lot of time hiding?" said Mrs. Wacera.
She said the loans have also caused family wrangles.
"We thought the money they give every market day in Kirinyaga would help us, but now we are crying. This money has even destroyed our families because our husbands have realized we have sleepless nights. We did not tell them because we thought it was a normal loan," the women said.
The traders claim the collectors even storm their homes at around 9 p.m. when families are asleep.
"They are the ones who came to our businesses, we never looked for them. Right now after taking their money and paying, they are coming for more interest. We need intervention," Mrs. Wacera added.
Edith recounted how the lenders operate like shylocks, first demanding to check M-Pesa statements.
"They asked for my M-Pesa statement to see how much money I transact. After checking, they gave me Ksh 10,000. It has been three months now. I have been paying interest. If you fail to pay an instalment, you are told to pay Ksh 4,000 more. The loan balance remains stagnant. My business has gone down," she said.
Joyce Wanjiru said she was taken to a police station after failing to pay.
"They came to my business and gave me money. After I was unable to pay Ksh.1,500, they took me to the police station and I was forced to pay Ksh.2,000," she said.
According to the traders, the lenders are very common in Kiburu, Kagio and Ngurubani markets.
The small traders have appealed to the County Government and financial regulators to intervene and protect small-scale traders from predatory lending.