Xmas carols as food prices bites Arusha
What you need to know:
Prices of foodstuffs and consumer goods have gone up but Arusha residents feel happy for improved security and family reunions.
Arusha. Hundreds of believers thronged the churches in Arusha for the Christmas mass yesterday and later for merry making in the neighbourhoods despite earlier complaints of price hikes for staple foods.
The entire city centre looked deserted in the morning hours but there was a huge turnout at most prayer houses believers attended sermons to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
Until the after noon there were no reports of serious crimes from the police after night long celebrations both in the churches and in the entertainment jointly from Monday evening.
The central bus station in the heart of the city - normally crowded- was relatively quiet yesterday. Some shops were closed as its owners were said to have travelled to Kilimanjaro region.
On the eve of Christmas on Monday, residents of the city complained about the sharp rise of prices of basic foodstuffs like rice.
One of those interviewed Suzan Maro said the price of the cereal (rice) - on the of the most popular foodstuffs on the dining tables - had shot up to Sh. 2,000 a kilogramme from Sh. 1,600.
Also to shoot up unexpectedly is the price of sugar from Sh.2,300 to Sh. 2,500 a kilogramme.
She said foodstuff traders simply taking the advantage of he high demand to increase the prices of the basic commodities and shrugged off the poor supplies.
Anna John, another residents of Arusha, said the price of Irish potatoes had also shot up to Sh. 5,000 for a plastic bail from around Sh. 3,000.
Tomatoes and onions, the other basic food items - have also not been spared either by the price hike craze.
They were selling at between Sh. 6,000/Sh. 7,000 and Sh. 5,000 per a sadolin plastic bag respectively from a mere Sh. 3,000 and Sh. 2,000 before the Christmas season.
However, when contacted foodstuff traders defended the price hikes, saying they were buying the items at inflated prices from the wholesale sellers.
"We have not fixed these prizes", lamented Ms Neema Tarimo, pleading to the government authorities to take to task wholesalers who have inflated the prices of the consumer goods.