Imagine getting a call at 7:30 am informing you that your sh. 700,000 investment is no more. Well, this was John Kinyanjui's reality on Tuesday.

His shop, Makshev laptops and accessories shop in Nakuru city centre was broken into after thieves broke his locks.

"On Monday morning, I had gone to Nairobi to bring in new stock. By around 6:30 pm I was back in Nakuru and at my shop. After loading the stock in the backroom, I locked up the shop and headed home. One of those who has a stall next to me called me the following morning and told me that my stall looks like it was broken into," he recalls.

He continues to say that when he got into the shop, 30 laptops that were on display amounting to sh. 700,000 had been stolen. However, they left the printers and four laptops.

Sadly, this shop was only three weeks old as Kinyanjui was in the process of setting it up as an expansion from his Nairobi shop.

“Unfortunately, I had not yet insured the shop. This is a very huge loss on my part" he laments.

As of yesterday, Kinyanjui confirms that the police had taken the night watchman who was on guard in for questioning.

"Generally the area behind the Nakuru Boxing Club is not safe. By 7 pm most shops are usually closed and even if you wanted to keep your shop open during that time, it is impossible because there are no street lights and that area is very dark, posing a huge security risk to the business owners along this street" he says.

Despite this set back, the 24-year-old says he will not back down.

When Mtaa Wangu visited his shop on Wednesday, he had repaired all the damaged doors and displayed the laptops that remained.

Asked if the burglary incident could have been a result of business rivalry as a new entrant into the Nakuru market, Kinyanjui says he cannot rule that out.

“Nakuru is smaller compared to Nairobi hence there is an aspect of traders fighting for a smaller market which can breed unfair competition tactics. But either way, I will not give up on this shop,” he states boldly.

Thieves break into three-week-old shop in Nakuru, steal laptops worth Sh 700,000

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Bret Sanya