City Affairs

Gikomba demolitions: Traders seek court order to access stalls, save property

Demolished structures are pictured at Nairobi's Gikomba market on May 3, 2024. (Photo: Abdirahman Khalif/EV)

By Joseph Ndunda | Tuesday, June 11, 2024

The traders also want the court to order Nairobi County to allow them on the property, which has been cordoned off, to salvage whatever they can.

Traders at Nairobi's Gikomba market, who were evicted from the Solidarity area and their structures demolished by the Nairobi County Government, want the High Court to order their reinstatement or allocation of alternative spaces.

They want the county to take either one of these actions pending the determination of a petition they have filed to stop the demolitions.

Keep reading

In the new petition through lawyer Danstan Omari, the traders want further demolitions blocked pending the hearing of the petition and for the orders to be enforced by the officer in charge of the Shaurimoyo Police Station.

Omari said that at least 220 traders were affected after county bulldozers descended on stalls at night on April 15, 2024. Traders who were keeping vigil after receiving word of the operation watched helplessly as county officers, accompanied by armed police, stormed the area and tore down their structures.

The traders also want the court to order Nairobi County to allow them on the property, which has been cordoned off, to salvage whatever they can.

The county is demolishing structures in the area to build a fire station to enhance its response to fires that have rocked East Africa's largest open-air market for decades.

Omari said the county is planning demolitions without notice and court orders, meaning traders will lose their property.

"The plaintiffs are desirous of accessing the suit premises to collect their property and personal effects, and the same cannot be achieved due to an illegal and sudden temporary fence erected around the suit property by the defendants," Omari states in the suit papers.

"The traders stand to suffer substantial loss and damages as a result of the county's unprocedural action complained of, as that was their only source of livelihood, and will continue to suffer irreparably."

The traders noted that they have operated in the area for more than 40 years, so the county should have given them a notice of at least six months. They also accuse the county of violating the law by demolishing the stalls at night.

"I invite the court to bar the county from interfering in any way whatsoever with the space in dispute and from the reckless flouting of the constitution by trampling on the traders' rights to earn a genuine living," stated Omari.

"The traders' children are currently at a loss as their parents have lost their source of income, and the situation might become irreversible if the court does not intervene."