The first group of traders at Nairobi’s Gikomba market is expected to move into new stalls in September as a Sh5 billion redevelopment project enters its final stages.
About 5,000 shoe traders will be among the first to move, according to market officials. Other traders will follow as construction progresses in phases.
Joseph Muracia, chief executive of the Nairobi Rivers Commission, said roofing work was under way and the broader relocation program would continue into next year.
We are currently doing roofing, and all traders will be settled in new markets by June-July next year,” Muracia said.
Mugo Kibathi, the Gikomba market chairman, said construction was more than 70 per cent complete. He said the first traders would be allocated numbered stalls once the initial section was ready.
The first phase is expected to accommodate about 7,000 traders. It will include several floors, secure stalls, cold storage facilities, sanitation areas, ICT hubs, parking and a day-care center.
The second phase is planned for second-hand clothes traders. Sellers of vegetables, grains and other goods will be moved in later stages. Timber traders are expected to be accommodated near Machakos Country Bus.
The project is being carried out jointly by the national and Nairobi county governments. It forms part of a wider plan to invest about Sh80 billion in Nairobi infrastructure and urban renewal.
For traders, the redevelopment comes after years of fires, overcrowding and poor working conditions at one of Nairobi’s busiest markets. Officials also say the project is intended to help restore order and reduce pollution along the Nairobi River.
But the redevelopment has also brought disruption.
In March, authorities demolished structures in parts of Gikomba identified as encroaching on riparian land after severe flooding in Nairobi. Traders were left searching through debris for goods, while some said they had not been given adequate relocation arrangements.
County officials said the demolitions followed due process and that affected traders had been given notice to leave.
The authorities have since said relocation will be carried out in stages to limit disruption as new facilities become available.
The first phase is estimated to cost Sh800 million. The remaining three phases are expected to cost about Sh3.8 billion and provide space for thousands more traders.
For the traders waiting to return to formal stalls, the September move will be an important test of whether the long-promised redevelopment can deliver safer and more orderly working conditions without leaving businesses behind.
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