Over 500 businesses were demolished within Nairobi's Muthurwa market to pave way for the construction of a perimeter wall.
The traders who had set up their businesses and sheds between the grills of the old walls were dealt a huge blow after they found bulldozers bringing down the structures.
The market's chairman Nelson Waithaka lamented on the traders' situation who he claimed have been left without a source of income.
"This is the second time the traders are being evicted from the market amid rising unemployment rate due to the Covid-19 pandemic," Waithaka stated.
He added that other traders near Wakulima market had also been dealt with the same fate after being evicted to pave way for the construction of a perimeter wall by Kenya Railways.
Waithaka wondered how the government expected the traders to survive when the country is already suffering from the effects of the third wave of the pandemic.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday, March 26, instituted new measures in a bid to curb the third wave of the global Covid-19 virus.
From revising curfew hours, placing lockdown on five counties among them Nairobi to taking other strict measures in abid to flatten the curve.
Waithaka urged the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) to intervene on the pertinent issue and allow new stalls to built for the traders as soon as the wall is built.
The NMS has been responsible for new developments within the market after it took over control from the Nairobi County government.
The demolitions mirror a similar incident in September 2020, when at least 400 families were forced to move out of their homes located within Muthurwa market.
The families had been issued with a 24-hour notice by Kenya Railways to vacate the premises, which claimed ownership of the said land.
