Traders left out in the cold after bulldozers flatten Kware Market – PHOTOS and VIDEO
Traders in Ongata Rongai’s Kware Market along Magadi Road spent Wednesday night trying to salvage their wares after bulldozers descended on the market around 11pm.
The bulldozers left in their wake a trail of destruction where the market previously used to be with the 5,000 affected traders now left to count huge losses.
When the demolition exercise commenced, most traders had closed shop only to be alerted of the demolition through friends and colleagues.
Some of the traders, who live nearby, managed to arrive in time to save their property.
“I live nearby so when I got a call from a friend around midnight I rushed and saved my stock in time,” Chege, trader at the market, said.
Other unfortunate traders, who live as far as Kiserian, Olekasasi, Nkorio and Kadasi, arrived to find their stalls demolished and the stock either destroyed or stolen by looters.
Most of the traders lamented that the demolition went on despite the fact that they have been paying daily fees to the Kajiado County government.
They however acknowledged that they had been given a two weeks’ notice to vacate with the deadline being September 11 but that the demolition happened before the lapse of that timeline.
The traders had been given the option of moving to Olekasasi, Ongata Rongai open air market on Makaburini which they however claim cannot accommodate all of them.
The traders also expressed their reservations about moving to Makaburini because its located next to a public cemetery.
“We accept development but we are entitled to clear guidelines instead of having these random night raids” said Juliana, a clothes traders, who lost half her stock during the exercise.
The market, which has been operating for over 10 years, serves the residents of Ongata Rongai and its environs.