Another ‘Annual’ Fire Destroys Gikomba Market in Nairobi

Several traders at Gikomba Market in Nairobi are counting huge losses after another fire gutted down parts of the facility.

The inferno allegedly broke out in the wee hours of Friday, destroying several businesses near the mitumba section of the market. Reports indicate the fire erupted about 30 minutes past midnight at the Molo Line area known to many as Ghorofani.

Traders said firefighters from the Nairobi Metropolitan Services took long to respond, leading to massive losses.

“The fire started past midnight and traders who had stocked their bale of clothes did not manage to save them. Until now the fire is still burning despite NMS coming to the rescue,” a trader said.

“We are used to the fire and the government promised to get a solution but we are getting losses every year,” another trader remarked.

The market has been experiencing fire cases annually in the past decade, which has raised eyebrows with many claiming they are cases of arson.

In April 2019, more than 2,000 structures were destroyed as a section of Gikomba Market was gutted by fire. In 2018, the market experienced three fire cases, prompting President Kenyatta to order a probe into the cause of the frequent fires.

At least 15 people were killed while 70 were injured after a fire broke out at the market in June 2018.

In 2016, Kamukunji MP Yusuf Hassan alleged attempts by unknown individuals to eject traders from the land after an inferno reduced stalls worth millions of shillings into ashes.

“I think it is not purely accidental. We have too many fires here. There are people responsible for them and we must find out who they are and bring them to book,” he told journalists.