Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, on Wednesday, April 5, revealed that the county had dealt with several legal battles hampering the construction of a public market in Eastleigh.
The lawsuits had reportedly derailed the project affecting the implementation of the multi-million city project.
In a statement, the first-time governor, however, assured that plans to set up the market to benefit local traders were advanced.
Sakaja, nonetheless, acknowledged the concerns raised over the stalled project, which was touted to help close to 400 traders.
"Eastleigh should have a proper public market. It will be a source of income to many, a source of revenue for the county government and will bring sanity and order in that place," Salim Njagi tweeted.
"Yes. Coming right up. Eastleigh Market after decades of legal battles," Sakaja responded.
The conversation regarding Eastleigh Market started after Nairobi County unveiled advanced street-cleaning machines to help clean Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).
Eastleigh residents implored Sakaja also to deploy the machines to help address the waste menace in the area.
"Eastleigh needs a proper public market. That is what you guys should be championing for first, and the rest will follow. We can't have traders selling their products on pedestrian paths and roads and expect cleanliness and orderliness," another social media user insisted.
In November 2016, Environment and Lands Courts stopped selling the Eastleigh Public Market, valued at Ksh500 million then. In the ruling, the court barred Nairobi County from transferring, selling, charging, leasing, dealing, removing from, excavating, damaging or developing the property on which the market is built.
Reports indicated that two businessmen submitted bids to buy the land to set up a modern centre.
"The suit property was designated a public market of the City Council of Nairobi known as Eastleigh Market, where 400 stalls were erected and rented to small-scale traders,” the judge heard.
Following legal battles, the project stalled, with some traders turning the land into a dump site. However, Sakaja's new stance offered a reprieve to traders in the Eastleigh Public Market without formal stands.
