Once again, traders at Gikomba market are in tears after goods of unknown value were destroyed in a mysterious early morning fire on Monday.
The fire affected the section of the market where most traders usually keep their commodities in bales.
Several videos posted online showed a huge fire engulfing stalls in the market. The cause of the inferno is yet to be determined.
Traders said they were alerted about the incident at around 1am on Monday.
Nairobi County fire engines had a hard time battling the flames that rose high and burned relentlessly as most of the stalls are wooden.
On Friday, the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) received a court’s nod to evict a section of traders from Gikomba in order to pave way for expansion of the neighbouring Pumwani Majengo Health Centre.
174 traders operating at Gacucu Gikomba had wanted the court to stop NMS from threatening or interfering with their occupation of the land pending hearing of their case.
In a separate case filed in August, over 900 Gikomba traders had sued the Nairobi County government demanding Sh20 billion compensation over frequent fires at the market.
In a case before the High Court, the traders want the county to pay them for direct financial loss and re-establishment costs.
The traders have listed 15 fire incidences since 2015, saying the frequent occurrences show that the county government has failed to take adequate precautions over their safety and that of the public while doing business at Gikomba. BY DAILY NATION
