Sad! City Market Traders in Nairobi stranded as stalls demolished

Nairobi County government bulldozers on Friday brought down stalls near City Market and GPO in the central business district (CBD), leaving traders stranded. The traders claimed they were not given any vacate notice.

“We were not given any notice that we are supposed to leave. County council officials came this morning and ordered us to leave. Some of us have just come from home and we found everything destroyed. We do not know what the problem is,’’ said Mama Shepherd, a trader at City Market.

The traders said the market is on private land and all the land rates have been paid for. James Mwangi, another trader, said the location has been ideal for business.

“I have been here for one year and five months, I have a trading licence and other traders as well. It’s a big loss and a shock to us but the land owner has pledged to seek legal redress,’’ said Mwangi.

The operators, who pay Sh10,000 weekly rent, said they had paid the charges, invested in stock and have since incurred huge losses. They urged the county government to help resolve the matter.