Transport along Nairobi's busy Jogoo Road was paralysed for a significant part of Tuesday morning as traders staged protests over planned demolitions at Uhuru Market.
The enraged members of the public began their demonstrations at Uhuru Market, a few metres from Jogoo Road, before marching towards the busy highway.
"Let us go to Jogoo Road and block the way so that they can listen to us," some of the traders shouted during the protests, before leading others onto the road.
Images and videos seen by Kenyans.co.ke showed agitated members of the public, mostly traders from the market, flocking in large numbers onto the highway.
Soon after, they set tyres and litter ablaze on the highway, paralysing transport and making the road impassable to matatus plying the route.
The bonfires were lit near the junction of Likoni Road, just a few metres from St Stephen’s Anglican Church of Kenya.
Motorists using the route were forced to either reroute to Outering Road and access Nairobi’s central business district via Juja Road or use feeder roads within the adjacent estates to reach town, as traffic jams built up on alternative roads.
At the time of publishing, the National Police Service (NPS) had not issued a response, and officers were yet to be deployed to quell the protests.
This is not the first time traders have protested against the planned demolitions at the market. In 2021, the matter reached the corridors of justice after traders moved to court to halt the process.
The traders received a temporary reprieve in 2021 after a Milimani court issued orders stopping a private developer from evicting them.
The ruling prevented any eviction from the land until the hearing and determination of their application were concluded.
