It in a unbeatable fact that Gikomba traders mean business and that remains as long as the market stands. Fires at the rich market is now becoming a normal phenomenon, in March 2012, March 2014, October 2014, June 2015, October 2017, June 2018 and February 2019 cases of fires have emerged some turning out grievous.
Sitting approximately 4 Kilometers from the Central Business District, Gikomba is the business hub that not only serves Kenya but the East African region.Every minute, thousands of people are flock in or out for one sole purpose to do business.
With over ten entry points, choose any route to access the expansive market and your fate is unknown, confusion reigns.
A worrying trend that has seen days turn to years as policy makers promise to reverse it by building a modern market which is accessible and proper amenities, but has remained just that – a failed promise.
A source of living for thousands of families in a country where unemployment has hit worrying levels, the market is struggling from perennial challenges that range from lack of proper planning, basic amenities and frequent fires that have not only left property worth millions of shillings destroyed but also claimed lives.
Here, it is a day at a time in Gikomba. No one is assured of even the activities of the next minute. Unpredictable.It is a fear that has become part of life for them, not threatening any more, but this has not killed their working spirit.
A fire incident at the market on Wednesday night caught many off-guard, but luckily, it was contained on time before it spread to other areas.
The fire came less than 24 hours after a fire burnt down tens of houses in an informal settlement in Kangemi, along Waiyaki way.
In June last year, at least 15 people died after a dawn fire that burnt Kwa-Mbao area, a section of the market where they make furniture.
Five of those who died succumbed to injuries upon arrival at the Kenyatta National Hospital, among them four children, while another died at Mama Lucy Hospital. More than 70 others sustained injuries.
This, traders said, was just an incident in a series of similar cases but this time, lives had been lost the probe whose outcome was never known.
On October 6, 2017, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed that a probe be carried out to establish the cause of fires in the market after a fire incident led to the loss of property worth millions of shillings.
Since then, Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti has not publicly released the outcome of the probe even after been issued with such directives in the past, but nothing changed not even a suspect was arrested.
Then, Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko said preliminary investigations pointed out on foul play.Even as police probe the Wednesday night fire incident, traders at the market wonder what happened to other investigations. Could they just have been political sediments?
Some sources believe there is a little bit of politics, business rivalry and of course the evident poor planning,there is no a fire station in the market, the roads are still congested, and impassable, no one has been arrested for these incidents apparently further fueling no possible forthcoming change.
The market’s story is anchored on the past rather than in the future. Here,the future is dim as it is full of uncertainty in the 38 hectare open air market.