Property worth millions of shillings was destroyed last night in another mysterious fire that bombarded the market stalls in Mutindwa, Buruburu.
According to the locals, the blaze began in one of the stalls at around 2 am, before engulfing the others and leaving a wake of destruction, devastated traders and ashy remains of goods stored. The locals voiced their suspicion that the fire was a deliberate act of arson, set with petrol to pressure the vendors out of the area between Bidii Primary School and KAG East University.
“We have had cases in the past where bulldozers were sent to demolish our stalls to force us out on the grounds that the area has become a breeding ground for criminals from Kayole, Huruma, Ndandora and other slums where most traders come from, but that never worked because this space was allocated to us by the county government. What we saw last night was a first, we have never been torched before, this is a new low,” a trader disclosed.
A resident’s welfare group has been advocating for the removal of the stalls, terming them a breeding ground for insecurity. At 3:30 am, Paul Anyumba, a shoe trader, received notification that fire had broken out at the stalls. He rushed over but on arrival, the flames had spread to his stall, making it impossible for him to save any of his merchandise.
Francis Mutua, a cassava trader, said that when he arrived at the scene around 3 am, a majority of the stands had already been consumed by the fire. He claimed that the fire engines came later and the initial one did not have enough water to put out the fire. On Monday morning, the Kenya Army and Nairobi County fire engines were still putting out the last of the flames, offering the opportunity for traders to collect any iron sheets and other building materials that could be salvaged.
The head of disaster management for Nairobi County, Mr Bramwel Simiyu conveyed that the planning department will be responsible for developing the stalls. Embakasi MP Mark Mwenje pledged to provide the vendors with assistance to rebuild their stalls. Recently, another unexplained fire destroyed stalls in Toi market, resulting in significant losses of property and marking yet another instance in a series of fires with unknown origins.
