This archive report was first published on 11 July 2021.
Published on July 11, 2021, a fire incident at Marikiti Market in Mombasa County left traders counting losses.
The fire, which occurred on Sunday, July 11, razed down stalls in the mitumba section, causing unknown damage.
According to the affected traders, the cause of the fire is still unknown, and the county government of Mombasa has launched investigations to ascertain the cause.
Traders expressed disappointment over the poor equipment used by the county to respond to fire incidents.
Just a week prior, a fire had burned down a section of the Kongowea market, with videos showing intense flames engulfing the market in the middle of the night.
Businesspeople who arrived at the market in the morning could not salvage any of their properties that were destroyed in the night fire.
Despite a previous fire in January 2020 that destroyed the second-hand clothes section, Mombasa County authorities have not yet established what time the fire broke out.
Thousands of traders operate from the market, which also sells vegetables and fruits.
Earlier in January 2021, Mombasa Governor Hassan Ali Joho had announced an ambitious project to revamp the Ksh400 million Kongowea market.
However, the governor's plans to transform the Kongowea market into a model market that supports export trading remain uncertain.
