Another Fire Strikes Gikomba Market

Traders at Gikomba market, Nairobi county are counting losses after an early morning fire razed down their property at the cereals and mitumba sections.

Reports indicate that the fire broke on Friday, November 20^th during the wee hours of the morning. Traders tried to battle the raging inferno in a bid to salvage some of their property but their efforts remained futile.

So far, no causalities have been reported but property whose value could not immediately be established was lost.

The fire comes barely five months after another inferno destroyed the market which has seen numerous fires over the decade. A recent case saw a fire breakout on June 25^th, which saw grave destruction of properties and structures.

Last year, the market saw three such incidents. In August 2019, property worth more than 10 million shillings was reduced to ashes at the market. The biggest fire was in June 2018 that claimed 15 lives and razed property worth millions at the Kwa Mbao sections.

Last year, the government promised to modernize the market infrastructure, with the first phase set to be concluded within three months.

But some of the traders claim that there has been no official communication from the Nairobi Metropolitan Services since the incident happened.

Gikomba market is known for various businesses main among them being the sale of second-hand clothes, furniture-making as well as trading in food items mainly dry foods like cereals.