ADVERT 
ADVERTMore than 2,000 traders at Aram Market in North Asembo have dug in against the payment of county levies, turning a dispute over revenue collection into a wider confrontation over sanitation, drainage, market management and service delivery.
The traders, led by market chairperson Hellen Ochieng, say they will continue doing business without remitting levies to the Siaya County Government until senior officials from the Revenue and Trade departments meet them and address their grievances.
The standoff, which began last week, has placed the county government’s push to increase own-source revenue under renewed scrutiny, with traders questioning whether revenue collection is being matched by adequate services and a business environment conducive to small enterprises.
“We ceased tax payment last week, and we shall continue doing business without making any payment to the county government,” Ochieng said, warning that intimidation, arrests and deployment of enforcement officers would not resolve the dispute.
She said the traders had previously raised their concerns with county officials without seeing meaningful changes.
ADVERT“Threats, intimidation and arrests will not resolve the revenue stalemate. Let the government respond to our grievances for peace to reign and tax payment to continue,” she said.
The traders are now demanding a formal consultative meeting involving market leadership and senior officers from the county’s Revenue and Trade departments.
At the heart of the dispute is a simple but politically and administratively sensitive question: what services are traders receiving in return for the levies they are being asked to pay?
Sanitation becomes flashpoint
Among the traders’ most persistent complaints are poorly maintained toilets, uncollected garbage, inadequate drainage and poor lighting.
Traders say the sanitation situation has deteriorated to a point where they are increasingly forced to clean the market themselves.
One woman trader described the irony of the situation, saying that after traders sweep away dirt and garbage that have become an eyesore, county revenue collectors arrive demanding payment because the market has been cleaned.
For the traders, the issue is not simply the amount of money being collected but the perceived disconnect between payment and service delivery.
Aram Market secretary James Juma blamed poor drainage for worsening conditions, saying blocked or inadequate drainage contributes to flooding and disrupts business.
Another trader, Rosemary Omamo, said unpredictable charges and enforcement had created additional uncertainty for businesses already facing high operating costs, rent and declining purchasing power.
She questioned the justification for charges ranging between Sh400 and Sh800, particularly when traders say they continue to experience poor drainage, inadequate toilets and insufficient lighting.
Omamo further alleged that some collections by the market administration had gone unreceipted. Such allegations remain claims by the traders and would require verification by the relevant county authorities.
The accusations have nevertheless added another layer to the revenue dispute, with traders demanding clarity on the official charges, authorised collectors, receipts and how money collected from the market is accounted for.
Traders accuse enforcement officers
The traders have also accused county enforcement officers of using heavy-handed tactics, including allegedly confiscating goods without what they consider adequate identification or legal authority.
Juma said some enforcement officers enter business premises and confiscate goods, a practice he said was contributing to mistrust between traders and the county administration.
The traders insist that dialogue, rather than confrontation, is the way to resolve the stalemate.
“We cannot build Siaya if we are being squeezed, but it can grow and thrive if we are empowered by Governor James Orengo so we can work,” one trader said.
Their position reflects a wider argument frequently encountered in devolved governance: counties need revenue to finance services, but taxpayers also expect visible and accountable services in return.
Market leadership row
The revenue dispute has also exposed another longstanding issue at Aram Market — the leadership of the traders themselves.
Juma accused the county government of delaying market leadership elections, saying the market has gone about six months without an election.
“We want to have new officials to run the affairs of Aram Market,” he said.
The demand for fresh elections could add another dimension to the dispute, particularly because questions surrounding who legitimately represents traders can affect negotiations between market occupants and county authorities.
Ochieng, meanwhile, has emerged as the most vocal face of the tax boycott, putting the market leadership directly at the centre of the confrontation.
Revenue department pushes back
But the county government has rejected the idea that the revenue boycott can continue indefinitely.
Siaya County Revenue Director Moses Keya insisted that revenue collection at Aram Market would continue, saying the department was working on modalities to resume collections.
Keya also offered a markedly different interpretation of the dispute, accusing the market chairperson of being in a “campaign mood” and using the tax boycott as a strategy to win political support.
That claim, however, is a political interpretation and would need to be weighed against the traders’ documented complaints about services and market administration.
Keya further warned that if traders persisted with the boycott, the county could halt the ongoing construction of a Sh14 million livestock market project in West Asembo Ward.
He explained that the livestock market was located on the western side of Asembo, while the North Asembo area where Aram Market is situated had not been prioritised in the current budget.
On drainage, Keya said the proposed works would require more than Sh10 million, against a budgetary allocation of Sh5 million.
The county’s position therefore brings the dispute full circle: officials argue that revenue is necessary to finance development, while traders maintain that poor services cannot be used as an excuse to demand ever-higher payments without first addressing the conditions in which they operate.
A dispute bigger than tax
The Aram standoff is increasingly becoming less about whether traders should pay and more about whether the county and its taxpayers can rebuild trust.
The county government has a legitimate interest in protecting approved revenue streams, while traders have legitimate grounds to demand transparency over charges, receipts, enforcement and service delivery.
Neither side is likely to gain much from an extended confrontation.
A high-level meeting bringing together the traders, Revenue, Trade, Public Health, Environment, market administration and other relevant departments could provide an opportunity to establish the facts and separate genuine service-delivery failures from disputed allegations.
Such an engagement could clarify the official tariff structure, address complaints over receipts and enforcement, examine sanitation and drainage problems, and establish a realistic timetable for improvements.
It could also address the market leadership question and provide a clear channel through which future grievances can be resolved before they escalate into revenue boycotts.
For now, however, Aram traders remain adamant.
Their message to the county government is clear: engage us, fix the market and restore confidence before expecting business as usual.
And with more than 2,000 traders involved, the dispute has become a significant test of how Siaya balances revenue mobilisation with accountability, service delivery and the economic survival of small traders.
Photos: Courtesy of Eric Juma, People Daily
