Mradi village in Embakasi was
razed by fire in February last year,
killing 10 people, injuring 300 and
destroying businesses.
But the fierce fire did not dim residents’ hopes and they are slowly
rising from the ashes.
Residents are finding ways of
resurrecting their enterprises and
rebuilding their lives.
In January last year, Rose Wanyoike was upbeat about the fresh
year, planning to start a building
project in her rural home from the proceeds of her business, only for her
world to be upended shortly.
She ran a boutique in Mradi and
it was growing fast. She had operated the business for three years and
set up an M-Pesa business.
“Building was the next project
I had in mind. I wanted to put up
a modest house upcountry in Murang’a because my business was
promising,” Wanyoike said.
But on February 2, tragedy struck
after a gas tank exploded in the
dead of night.
Her boutique and all the equipment in it were destroyed.
The
M-Pesa shop, which was also doing
well, was razed.
“I was lucky to have escaped with
my life because I stay in Donholm.
My losses could have been more if I stayed around,” she said.
The Star
encountered the 44-year-old mother of two in Mradi, the very area
where her sweat was licked by fire,
trying to reconstruct her life.
Like many businesses around rising from the ashes, she now operates a makeshift stall selling fruits.
Amid long pauses, Wanyoike
said her world came crashing down
when the fire struck, taking her
many steps back in life.
“It had taken so much work and
painful sacrifices to stock up and
operate. I had taken a loan and I
had just completed paying up, that
is why I was now on the agenda of
putting up the rural structure. It is a
huge downgrade,” she narrated.
But Wanyoike, like majority of
residents, is resilient.
“Most of the structures here were
not these makeshift mabati structures. They were decent structures
where businesses were professionally run. But the fire took us back. We
are rebuilding our businesses and
will even be better,” James Nyaboke,
who ran a butchery, said.
He is also back in business, but
now in a smaller mabati structure.
Geoffrey Wanyama worked as a
cobbler and that night, he had shoes
of 20 clients he kept in his store.
They all went up in flames.
“The customers understood the
tragedy and did not give me trouble. What is troubling me is that the fire destroyed my dreams and livelihood,” he said.
From his work, Wanyama sustained his family.
He also had plans
to make progress on key milestones
in his life.
But a resilient Wanyama is not
about to give up yet.
He got another
space and is ready to start again.
“We cannot give up.”
At Maxxis Energy Limited where
the explosion occurred, there are
shells of tankers and lorries.
Armed
police officers keep guard. The
owner has since been arraigned on
charges of manslaughter.
