Nairobi News

NewsWhat's Hot

Gikomba traders to be paid Sh90m for losses in fire tragedy

By ABIUD OCHIENG September 7th, 2015 1 min read

Kenya Orient Insurance Limited will on Tuesday pay Sh90 million to traders who lost goods in a fire tragedy at Nairobi’s Gikomba market.

According to a communication by the insurer, this will be part of the claim settlement following the fire that gutted the market in June, 2015.

The ceremony will be held at the insurer’s offices at Capitol Hill Towers beginning 8am.

The fire, which started in the morning on June 23, 2015 rendered many traders, who owned stalls, jobless.

Very little was salvaged in the aftermath of the fire.

The fire reportedly started at area 42 before it spread to Gorofani in Gikomba.

There have been repeated fire incidents at the market but investigations have been unable to establish the cause so that a lasting solution could be found.

Mary Anyango, the chairperson of the traders had told journalists that there is more than meets the eye in the fire incidents.

“There is somebody who is always setting our stalls on fire since the fire only occurs at odd hours,” Ms Anyango had commented.

Mr Samuel Mburu, a trader, said he lost stock worth Sh150,000 yet he had a loan to repay, while Mr Patrick Maloki said he lost stock worth Sh250, 000 in the fire.

Some traders also accused fire fighters of arriving late at the scene thereby making it hard to salvage most of the property.