A court has temporarily stopped the Kajiado county government from evicting traders from Kitengela market.
The county plans to renovate the market wants the business people to vacate. The Sh40 million project was to start on Saturday. But the traders, through representative Joseph Kinyanjui, sought a court intervention through a certificate of urgency filed by lawyer Peter Omino.
The court granted the orders on Tuesday, pending the conclusion of the case. It will be heard on May 29.
The ruling barred the county government, its employees or agents from evicting the traders, trespassing, or demolishing structures.
Kinyanjui, through Omino, told senior principal magistrate Margaret Kasera that the county government gave them a one-week notice to relocate to another site without consulting them first.
On Friday last week, Governor Joseph Lenku told the Star that the expansion would ensure more traders are accommodated. The market currently has 1,500 traders.
Lenku, through the Department of Trade, had given the traders up to April 26 to move to an open space near the Kitengela police station. But the traders expressed concern that the department is working with "strangers who purport to be genuine traders" to frustrate their businesses.
(Edited by F'Orieny)
