Traders at the popular Gikomba market in Nairobi are counting losses after a fire broke out in the early hours of Friday, November 2023.
Confirming the incident, Nairobi Police Commander Adamson Bungei said the inferno started at around 1am.
Furthermore, witnesses confirmed that the fire broke out in the shoe section part of the market spreading through a number of stalls.
However, the Nairobi police boss confirmed by 7am no injuries had been reported, adding that multi agency teams have since been deployed to help contain the inferno.
“We have many teams including the public fighting to contain it now before we embark on the probe on the cause,” Bungei said.
Gikomba Fires
Nevertheless, for many years traders in the market have encountered losses, this being not the first unfortunate incident.
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The market, which is East Africa’s largest open-air market, is a source of income for various businesspeople but has always been hit by mysterious fire tragedies.
Kenyans online reacted to the incident, calling out for an investigation to establish the cause of the infernos that have dogged the market.
Notably, Gikomba market has had its annual fires in the past years since 2015, the most recent one being in 2022.
“Gikomba on fire again! What is the main cause of Gikomba fire outbreaks? We’re tired with Gikomba Fires!” Omwamba claimed on X.
Additionally, Zamuh Adan, another X user reacted to the incident strongly sympathizing with the traders.
“Whoever burns Gikomba doesn’t know how many Kenyans depend on the market. People take loans to buy stocks.”
County Government Called out
On the other hand, another user called on the Nairobi County Government to come up with solutions to mitigate the recurring tragic incident.
“It is time that the government mitigate the fires.
The County government should take a record of all traders in Gikomba right now then plan to demolish all the informal stands and build an ultra-modern market,” said Kiprono.
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In addition, another user said being a trader in the market wasn’t for the faint hearted due to increased incidences.
Billy the goat reacted, “Gikomba is always on fire, if you have a stall in the market, you must be prepared being taken back factory settings. Not for the faint hearted.”
Notably, in April 2019, a mysterious fire razed another section of the market with more than 2,000 structures being destroyed.
