Barely 24 hours after the inferno that razed down properties worth millions in Gikomba market, traders are again counting losses as structures were demolished overnight under heavy police supervision.
Citizen reports that police bulldozers arrived at the market in the wee hours of Friday night with the order that the residents should vacate the area immediately thus leaving them stranded in the cold amid curfew.
The details of the night demolition according to Kamukunji deputy commissioner Moses K-rilan indicate that it was authorized by the government on the grounds that it would stop further collapse of weaker structures.
The demolition at Gikomba market after a recent fire makes me ask myself if it’s those demolishing responsible for the fires.
How comes that all the investigations have never been fruitful?
Is making the traders poorer a good way of getting the traders out of the space? pic.twitter.com/FT477yKTDh— Lydia Bulimu (@bulimu_lydia) June 27, 2020
Read: Starehe MP Jaguar Reads Foul Play, Gov’t Involvement In Recent Gikomba Fire
The Deputy Commissioner ideally indicated that the Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) had intentions of building long-lasting structures that will not be subjected to constant fires nor collapse.
Earlier, Starehe MP Charles Njagua alias Jaguar reckoned that the government might have had a hand in the recent inferno at Gikomba.
According to Jaguar, it was suspect that National Youth Service (NYS) recruits were on Friday seen at the market taking down structures put up after the Thursday fire.
In a series of tweets, the first time MP claimed that GSU officers were also on site preventing those against the demolitions from accessing the area.
NYS recruits are in Gikomba right now. They're demolishing stalls that traders had reconstructed after a mysterious fire razed them on Thursday morning. GSU officers are also there protecting the recruits. Is this exercise a sign that the govt was involved in the recent fire?
— Hon. Jaguar (@RealJaguarKenya) June 26, 2020
On the material day, Interior PS Karanja Kibicho and Housing PS Charles Hinga toured the area and promised to investigate the cause of the fire and compensate affected traders. Each was to receive Sh100,000.
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