Gikomba market traders staged peaceful protests on Monday, January 11 after a bulldozer arrived to demolish their stalls.
The bulldozer operater was chased away on Sunday night by traders who had camped inside the market to protect their stalls and goods following the eviction notices they received slightly earlier.
"I'm one of the traders in Kasusu market inside Gikomba. We have been selling here for many years but we are often disrupted by fires and eviction notices.The eviction notices are sometimes only for 40 minutes, yesterday we were told to leave the market." Said Dorcas a trader at the market.
According to Dorcas, the bulldozer arrived in the market at around 9 p.m on Sunday but after a standoff, they chased it away successfully.
The traders are uncertain whether the eviction notices are from government or a private developer. They are appealing to the government to intervene and support them to run their businesses seamlessly.
Dorcas added that little action has been taken on their grievances which they already petitioned to government officials in the area.
"We are asking the county and national government to help us because we are told every time to vacate the area and we have not been shown where we will be relocated. We went to the District Officer's office but we got no help," she said.
In July 2020, the stalls of a section of Gikomba traders in the market were demolished for road construction in the area.
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