Kaunti ya Nairobi imeangusha sehemu za soko la Gikomba usiku wa manane tarehe 30-31 Machi baada ya muda wa kunotifishwa wa siku 30 kuisha, na kuhamisha wafanyabiashara elfu 6. Maafisa wanalenga kusafisha ardhi ya riparian na kujenga soko la kisasa kwa ufadhili wa Ksh3 bilioni. Wafanyabiashara wanalalamika ukosefu wa nafasi ya kutosha ya muda.
Kaunti ya Nairobi ilianza shughuli za kung'ang'anisha madaraja karibu na saa 3 asubuhi Jumatatu usiku, ikilenga maduka ya viatu na biashara ndogo zingine. Wafanyabiashara 6,000 wameathiriwa, wakiwa wakijaribu kuokoa bidhaa zao asubuhi ya Jumanne. Rais William Ruto alitangaza kuwa serikali imetenga Ksh3 bilioni kwa mradi huu, akisema, “We are going to build a modern market. One that you have not seen.” Aliongeza, “We must pay attention to the Gikomba market because it is a national market serving a national traders' network around Kenya.”
Picha zilizotolewa na serikali zinaonyesha miundo ya kisasa ya orodha mbili, nafasi za kuegesha magari, barabara za kutembea na daraja. Shughuli hii ni ya kusafisha mita 50 kutoka ukingo wa Mto Nairobi, ikijumuisha mita 30 kwa urejesho wa ardhi ya riparian ili kupunguza mafuriko na mita 20 kwa soko jipya. Ni sehemu ya mpango mpana wa kujenga masoko 20 ya kisasa.
Boniface Muigai, mwenyekiti wa soko la viatu la Gikomba, alisema wafanyabiashara wamehamishwa kwenye eneo la muda, lakini walilazimika kujenga maduka yao wenyewe. “The government had not accounted for building stalls and shade, so traders contributed and put up structures themselves,” alisema. George Ochieng alilalamika kuwa eneo la muda ni ndogo sana: “Gikomba is 16 acres, but the temporary site is only a quarter of an acre.”
Viongozi wa kisiasa walilaani shughuli hiyo. Kalonzo Musyoka alisema, “The demolitions at Gikomba market are inhuman, they’re disheartening, and we condemn them unreservedly.” Rigathi Gachagua aliongeza, “What happened last night is inhuman, brutal, unacceptable and is persecution of small business owners.”
