A huge fire engulfed stalls at the famous Gikomba market in downtown Nairobi just days after Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) was allowed to evict a section of traders.
Videos seen by Kenyans.co.ke on Monday, November 8, showed a chain of shops up in flames at the busy market.
The fire broke out in the wee hours of Monday morning and destroyed property of unknown value. It was the fourth fire breakout in a period of two months.
At the time of publishing the story, it was still not clear what had caused the fire.
It is believed that the affected shops were owned by the 174 trades facing eviction by NMS, which is led by Major General Mohammed Badi.
This comes just two days after a Nairobi Court allowed NMS to evict traders from the open-air Gikomba market to allow for the expansion of a health centre.
The traders will, as a result, be forced to move out of the Gacucu area of the market to pave way for the expansion of the neighbouring Pumwani Majengo Health facility.
In granting the orders, the court stated that the traders' request for an order to stop the eviction and demolition of business structures would hinder the public good.
Justice Oguttu Mboya ruled that giving the directive would prevent the realization of the right to universal health care.
In his verdict, Justice Oguttu further noted that although the traders have a right to earn a living, they do not have any entitlement to the public land in question.
"Whereas I affirm their rights to earn a living and livelihood, it must however be noted that the petitioner's rights to do so are not absolute.
"In this regard, it suffices to observe that the right to earn a living and carry on business is one which is subject to the Limitation under Article 25 of the Constitution," Justice Mboya ruled.
Business is, however, yet to pick up inside the newly-built Ksh500 million Gikomba Market as traders continue to operate inside shanty structures and in the open.
Below is the video:
{"preview_thumbnail":"/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/7YfxWBoW5z8.jpg?itok=IJXta7PO","video_url":"
