Githurai traders are resisting a county government plan to relocate them from the stalls they have used for nearly a decade, warning that the proposed site may not have enough room for everyone. The dispute was reported on 20 November 2018.
The traders said they were not convinced that all of them would be accommodated in the section of town where they are expected to move. They want to remain in their current work stations instead of being shifted elsewhere.
Mary Kimani said the relocation plan was worrying because, in her view, the new place could not hold all the traders. Jared Onsase added that many traders feared they would be left without a place to do business.
“Already people have booked places in the new market without our consent. That is one thing we shall not allow,” he said.
The tension follows the demolition of stalls built on road reserves in Githurai by the Kenya National Highway Authority (KENHA) two months earlier. The traders later returned to the area, and the relocation row has now reopened the question of where they will operate from.
