Businessman and politician Mbarak Bashatir [in
spects] / BRIAN OTIENO
Mombasa businessman and politician Mbarak Bashatir has condemned the demolition of stalls and traders’ business premises at Markiti.
Mombasa county inspectorate officers on Tuesday pounced on some of the stalls that are said to have been illegally erected.
This followed complaints from a section of traders at the market that it has been infiltrated by goons and criminals.
Community chairman Abdirahman Yusuf said those who had their stall demolished are genuine traders, who pay license fees.
He said the inspectorate officers acted in haste and ended destroying livelihoods of genuine traders.
“It is the brokers and hawkers who stand at the main road and usher customers into the market that pose risks because some of them are goons in disguise,” Yusuf said.
“Instead of [head of Mombasa county inspectorate service Charles] Changawa dealing with conmen and brokers, he dealt with genuine traders,” Yusuf said.
Bashatir said before, vehicles had access to Markiti but now all the spaces have been taken by traders.
“Currently, if anything happens, say a fire, it will be difficult to rescue lives and property because the fire brigade will not reach the interior parts of Markiti,” he said.
“It is even hard to carry a coffin in those narrow streets.”He said the area was not originally a market, but past regimes allowed traders to build stalls to earn genuine income.
“If the authorities did not want them there, they would have blocked them from working there a long time ago,” Bashatir said.
He criticised the county for demolishing the stalls.
“The governor should come up with ways through which they can relocate the traders from Markiti to other markets across the county,” Bashatir said.
“But demolishing their livelihoods was not right. His advisers failed him.”
Last Friday, Old Town MCA Abdirahman ‘Anza Fresh’ Hussein asked for a solution on the congestion at Markiti.
“Action has to be taken. Enough is enough. We are waiting for your direction, Governor,” he said.
Governor Nassir, in an engagement with Old Town residents in his office last Friday, said he personally walks through Markiti at night to assess the situation.
“I’ll take the political fall. If you look at the right of the hawker, look also at the right of the trader. Look at the 100,000 people who are being oppressed because of 200m people,” Nassir said.
He instructed Changawa to “bring sanity” to the area.
“Your instructions are form the CEO of Mombasa county. That is a direct order. You either bring sanity to that area or I will replace you,” Nassir said.
The governor held a meeting with all hawkers in February to discuss how they would operate at Markiti after similar complaints were raised.
However, Markiti chair Ali Sheikh told the Star on Thursday there is an amicable solution that is being worked on.
“The inspectorate officers demolished a few stalls belonging to hawkers. But they admitted they also targeted the wrong people and are trying to re-establish the stalls they demolished.
“We are working in a solution.
There is no problem,” Sheikh said.
Instant Analysis:
Hawking at Markiti has been a thorn
in the flesh of traders who pay for county licenses onlyto end up having their
premises blocked by the hawkers. It is a matter that Governor Nassir promised
to address.
