‘It is a reckless smear campaign’ Eastleigh Business leaders decry attacks on commercial hub

The Eastleigh Business Community (EBC) has condemned what it described as sustained and deliberate attacks against businesses operating in the area, saying the accusations are aimed at undermining the reputation of one of the country’s most vibrant commercial centers.

In a press statement issued on January 13, 2026, the association said persistent falsehoods and recycled propaganda—some dating back decades—have been deliberately orchestrated to tarnish the image of Eastleigh businesses and the community behind them.

“Over the years, Eastleigh businesses have been accused—without proof—of laundering proceeds of sea piracy, proceeds of misappropriated Northern counties funds, evading taxes, and now, most recently, of handling proceeds of fraud allegedly committed in the United States. These claims are repeated loudly, irresponsibly, and with little regard for truth, chronology, or evidence,” said the chairman Ahmed Abdullahi Yare.

He accused some political actors, self-proclaimed clergy, and social media commentators of spearheading calculated efforts to malign the area’s reputation and inflame tensions among Kenyans.

“The most recent allegation—that investments in Eastleigh, including the development of the largest mall in East and Central Africa, were financed through proceeds of fraud in Minnesota—is demonstrably untrue,” he said while giving a chronology of the construction of the BBS Mall, which was first developed in 2009 as COMESA Mall, way before 2022 when the alleged fraud in Minnesota, United States, occurred.

“Chronologically, legally, and logically, the two cannot be linked,” he stressed.

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua had been in the crosshairs after alleging that funds stolen from a fraud scheme in Minnesota, United States, were funneled into the country, invested in properties in Eastleigh, and used to construct a shopping mall in Eastleigh.

In the absurd allegations, he went on to claim that beneficiaries were linked to senior political figures and called on US President Donald Trump to launch a Maduro-style operation and forcibly arrest the individuals linked to the mall.

The chairman highlighted the business hub’s growth as a product of resilience and long-term investments, saying it was developed through collaborative pooling of savings, joint ventures among local entrepreneurs and regional investors, and partnerships with regulated financial institutions, private equity firms, and investment service providers.

“Eastleigh is a living example of enterprise, resilience, collaboration, and economic progress. It is the product of decades of hard work by a community with a long and proven history of entrepreneurship—particularly the Somali community—whose business culture is built on trust, pooled resources, partnerships, and long-term investment,” he said.

With tens of thousands of Kenyans, from all ethnic groups, earning their livelihoods from the area, he said Eastleigh has become a major engine of employment, contributing significant taxes, levies, and rates that fund both county and national development, strengthening Kenya’s position as a commercial hub in East Africa.

The association called on the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) and other relevant agencies to take firm action against individuals accused of inciting hatred, spreading falsehoods, or violating national cohesion laws.