Phase One of six-storey Gikomba Market ready for business

Phase One of the Sh493 million six-storey Gikomba market has been completed and is ready for occupation.

It's now up to the market committee to ensure that the allotment of stalls is done transparently, Nairobi county commissioner Flora Mworoa said.

Mworoa said the government would soon embark on the construction of Phase Two of the market to accommodate traders who would miss Phase One stalls.

“These stalls should only be allocated to those who have been trading in this market. We do not want to hear that the committee has brought names of outsiders and their relatives,” the county commissioner said.

She spoke on Wednesday during an inspection tour of the market by the Nairobi County Development Implementation Coordination Committee team. The committee's secretary is Larry Mulomi from the President’s Delivery Unit.

The construction started in October 2018 after a series of fires at the largest  market over years.

Investigation committees rarely establish the cause of the fires and when they do they do not make their reports public.

The first floor of the building will be occupied by fish traders and the second floor by 81 traders. The third floor will go to sub-tenants.

Hawkers and Mpesa operators will be on the fourth floor while the fifth and sixth floors will be allocated to traders on temporarily basis before they and hawkers are given stalls in Phase Two of the facility.

The county commissioner urged the contractor to finalise the finishings ahead  of the October 30 deadline.

The structure is expected to accommodate 324 stall owners.

Mworoa said the frequent Gikomba fires were a concern and the national  government had to intervene and provide traders with a conducive business environment.

“The head of state is interested in your welfare and that is why he wants the building to be completed as scheduled,” she said.

Other markets have been constructed at Mwariro, Karandine, Wakulima and Westlands.

State Department of Housing and Urban Development engineer Benjamin Njenga said the government will drill a borehole at the market and put a perimeter wall around the market complete will CCTV cameras.

He said Gikomba Phase Two will be two times the size of the first phase.

The Gikomba Quarry Road Market chairman Samson Wanjohi said traders do not want to be associated with politics.

He said those allocated stalls are required to operate from them and not outside the new building.

“It will be futile for the government to construct this market and then traders continue to sell their wares outside due to the incitement from politicians,” Wanjohi said.

Contractor Njuca Consolidated is working on the final touches in the toilets, power connections, sewer lines and powerhouse for the generator.

- mwaniki fm