Mutindwa, Toi fires catch county napping once more, traders at markets count losses

The recent fires at Toi Market, Kibra Nairobi and Mutidwa Market in Buru Buru have exposed the softy underbelly of the city’s emergency response team.

Over the years, Gikomba in Starehe and Kibra’s Toi markets have been mostly affected by the infernos.

 Calls for probe, and promises by politicians are some of the tales traders are left with after losing properties to the market fires.

 On Sunday morning last week, it was no different as traders at Toi Market counted losses after a fire razed their sources of income.

 Thousands of stalls were burnt down in the wee hours of Sunday morning when the fire broke out at around 1 am after an electrical blow-up in one of the stalls which then spread to many others.

 Efforts to put off the fire on time turned futile as some traders claimed that the fire brigade team had limited access to the market and were forced to operate from the main road.

 Others have, however, claimed that three firefighting trucks arrived at the scene but had no water

 Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja who visited the traders in the evening promised to help those affected by the inferno to rebuild their stalls.  Sakaja noted that affected traders will receive temporal material and food support as they await to commence rebuilding.

 “Traders at Toi Market have lost so much after last night’s inferno. Poleni sana,” he said. “We have assessed the damage and we will help you rebuild. In the meantime, we have organised food and material support.”

The governor added that plans to create ample road access inside the market will also be incorporated into the rebuilding project.

 The plight of market traders affected by fires has remained unchanged for years with perennial fires, a constant threat to their business.  For decades, Gikomba and Toi markets have been a source of income for many including food vendors, second-hand clothes traders, carpenters, business people, and many more. Gikomba has been mostly affected by the market fires.

 However, Sakaja is not the first leader to make promises after a market fire.

 In 2018, the Gikomba market experienced three fire cases which led to former President Uhuru Kenyatta calling for investigations.  Some 15 people died and at least 60 were injured when a section of the market dealing in timber and clothes burnt down.

 Former Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti was asked by the senators to investigate the fire that residents claimed started from four different places within an expansive timber yard, in what was said to be “an outright case of arson.”

 However, no report was ever tabled at the Senate on the fire incident. In his manifesto, Sakaja pledged to construct 20 new markets across Nairobi to promote traders and decongest the main city markets, Gikomba and Wakulima, to provide an easy environment for doing business.

It is, however, a wait-and-see situation if the promises of the new regime will put an end to the ruthless Gikomba market fires.