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Two years after the Ksh400 million Githurai 45 market in Kiambu county was completed, the facility still stands unoccupied as traders hustle on the roadside with no solution in sight.

The five-storey structure, with a capacity of about 1,200 traders was ready for use in mid-2022, but it wasn’t until August 4, 2023, when President William Ruto officially opened it, slightly over a year after his predecessor former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration had completed it.

This followed protests by impatient traders who had been pushed out during the construction which took more than two years.

The affected traders now accuse politicians of meddling with the allocation of stalls and attempts to alter the beneficiaries list, which were cited as reasons for the delay in occupancy.

President Ruto had asked Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi to settle traders who had operated from the roadsides for many years.

Beneficiaries list

The list of beneficiaries was compiled during former Governor James Nyoro’s tenure and deposited with the State Department of Housing, which was still headed by Principal Secretary Charles Hinga, who oversaw construction of the market then.

However, traders have yet to move in one year since its official opening, with market officials accusing certain politicians of hijacking the resettlement exercise.

Githurai 45 has seven major market segments: Migingo/Muiguithania, Post Bank, Kwa Nyanya, Jubilee, New Jubilee, Gateway, and Pamoja. As per the World Bank financing condition, the allocation was to be done using a pre-project list of genuine traders taken before construction.

Intrigues surrounding the market range from an alleged plot by some local leaders to control key slots and also assign stalls to their political cronies, to an eagerness by some MPs to use the situation as a political platform against Governor Wamatangi who says he is determined to ensure only legitimate traders get spaces.

These factors have turned the market into a political battleground and a security concern after goons took over spaces illegally.

Housing officials

On October 23, 2023, Wamatangi established a committee comprised of State Department of Housing officials, the county department of trade, market officials, police and provincial administration with instructions only to use the initial list.

About two months later on December 6, 2023, the committee vetted traders to find legitimate ones. The following day, the vetted traders took over their slots inside the market and were allowed to develop them.

But again on March 21, when traders were to move in, the exercise turned chaotic after goons, allegedly in the company of two Ward Reps, thwarted it and took over slots in the market, preventing those initially allocated from accessing their premises.

Sources linked the fight to a bid by some politicians to control two public toilets, each with a daily income of Sh10,000, a hotel on the fifth floor, and a daycare centre on the fourth floor, among the spaces yet to be allocated.

Market officials have also accused Kiuu MCA Zack Macharia and Mwiki’s Donna Kendi of leading confrontations that have thwarted the settlement and plotting to have their supporters given stalls.

Jubilee Market Secretary Njoroge Thuo said, “The process; from vetting, allocation of slots, and time to move in, was good until MCAs sabotaged it,

“On the day we were to move in, they came with goons who looted the contractor’s office, occupied the space for the second phase, and, until today, are still charging public toilets, parking fees, and harassing innocent people.”

Peris Wambui, popularly known as Wambui wa Githurai, who chairs Pamoja market, said the allocation was all-inclusive and blamed the delay on political interference.

“It is wrong that some elected leaders have been hell-bent on frustrating moving in of traders. They have been inciting some traders and hiring goons to cause chaos,” said Wambui.

However, the two MCAs defended themselves, saying they were not interested in the market and maintained that this was a diversionary tactic.

“Since all the traders on the former list are our people, we decided to let them be. However, our governor has been unable to address the issue but as Kiuu MCA, I will not let people outside my ward infiltrate the market,” Macharia said.

Kendi said, “I have heard some people claiming I intend to occupy some stalls inside the market for my gain. Those are just rumours. I have no interest in public properties.” But Isaac Ng’ang’a, the secretary of Migingo/Muiganania markets, insisted: “The MCAs, with assistance from one senior politician, brought goons who hijacked our process.”