There was a fire incident on Sunday, July 11, that razed down stalls at Marikiti Market in Mombasa County.
According to the affected traders, a fire broke in the mitumba section burning goods of unknown value.
The cause of the fire is still unknown and the county government of Mombasa on Sunday stated they had launched investigations to ascertain the cause. .
Traders expressed disappointment over what they termed as poor equipment used by the county to respond to fire incidents.
This comes barely a week after a fire burned down a section of the Kongowea market. Videos seen by Kenyans.co.ke showed intense flames engulfing the market in the middle of the night.
Businesspeople who arrived at the market in the morning could not salvage any of their properties that were destroyed in the night fire.
Mombasa County authorities have not yet established what time the fire broke out. Thousands of traders operate from the market which also sells vegetables and fruits.
In January 2020 a fire broke out at the market and destroyed the second-hand clothes section, which hosted over 100 tailors and several food kiosks.
Firefighters from the county were joined by teams from the Kenya Ports Authority and Kenya Navy to put out the inferno which lasted for over five hours.
Police stated they had launched investigations to establish the cause of the fire but a report on the matter has never been revealed publicly.
This comes barely months after Mombasa Governor Hassan Ali Joho in January 2021, gave details of an ambitious project to revamp the Ksh400 million Kongowea market.
Joho stated that the county government intends to transform the Kongowea market into a model market that supports export trading.
"We are also opening up feeder roads to ease movement while also improving the lighting system to create an enabling environment for doing business,” Joho stated.
The governor also added that his government will create a 24hour trading hub for farm produce for the benefit of the people of Mombasa County.
