President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko to clean up Gikomba market and make it a safe place for traders.
The President wondered why the traders, who pay taxes would be subjected to working conditions without toilets, inaccessible roads and poor drainage.
“Jameni Sonko, ukienda uite wako wafunge io sewage maji itembee vizuri shida iko wapi?” Uhuru asked Sonko during a round table forum with SMEs at the Strathmore University.
He said it was a shame, that no leader had been to Gikomba market since the electioneering period despite promising to build a market for the traders. The traders had said they wanted to build the market, but were stopped by the government.
‘Sisi wanasiasa ni kuenda tu huko wakati wa kutafuta Kura!’ Uhuru said to the cheer of the traders.
The President arrived at the university with a written speech about policies but he ended up not reading the speech saying that he didn’t want to embarrass himself since the issues raised required immediate attention.
He directed the Energy CS Charles Keter to review electricity cost downwards and come up with a sustainable plan to ensure the cost of power to small and medium-sized enterprises is brought down.
He apologized to the traders saying that the government has failed them but promised that immediate action will be taken henceforth.
He asked for the stakeholders in the industry to think outside the box “on how to make the economy work especially for small and medium-sized enterprises”
The #SMEs community, represents 75% of the country’s workforce and we need to sit down and know how we will respond to the industry. We owe it to them | #SMEconference2018 @WilliamsRuto
— Uhuru Kenyatta (@UKenyatta) October 16, 2018
“We shall meet here after two months and evaluate the strides made from the matters arising here today. This is my promise.” He said