Tough economic times, high cost of living dampen Valentine mood

**Standard Group merchandiser Chelsea Johannes gifts Ryan Otieno (left) flowers along Kakamega Road on Valentine's Day in Kisumu City.** [Michael Mute, Standard]

After several days of hype on various platforms, the much-anticipated Valentine's Day did not live up to expectations on Nairobi's streets.

Unlike previous years, when red tents dotted the city streets with flowers and goodies for sale, the situation was different on Tuesday.

The Standard conducted a spot check and discovered that only a few areas of the upper Central Business District had been reserved for such activities.

Similarly, the majority of city centre workers avoided the traditional red attire associated with Valentine's Day, which is observed around the world.

Many of those polled blamed the low mood of the day on tough economic times and rising living costs, opting to ignore it entirely.

"I would rather buy a packet of cooking flour than spend money on expensive flowers; people used to observe the day years ago, but the tradition is slowly dying," Margaret Mwendwa, a trader on Mama Ngina Street, observed.

Other residents stated that the burden of school fees was too great for them to consider celebrating Valentine's Day.

Caroline Kimani, who has been selling flowers at the City Market for more than 20 years, believes that this year's Valentine's was better.

"This year has been busy in terms of sales compared to last year, but the prices we get from the farms are a bit higher, in fact, eight times higher than normal prices," Kimani said.

As a result, the majority of florists at City Market sold their flowers for between Sh500 and Sh3,000.

Away from the city centre, several motorists were surprised with flowers, courtesy of The Standard Group. Drivers were surprised at various roundabouts, including Nyayo Stadium, Uhuru Highway, Nairobi Hospital, Ngong Road, and Westlands.

"I'm glad I was surprised; I had no plans when I left the house," said motorist Robert Kibe.

Motorists and commuters in Mombasa also received roses from Standard Media Group, which is running a Valentine's Campaign dubbed 'Pendo Halisi' focusing on audiences in all its platforms countrywide.