Illegal structures at the Mutindwa Market have been demolished as the government moves to clear out encroachers on railway land.
Sources said Kenya Railways had issued a notice to owners of the structures to remove them prior to the Tuesday morning demolition.
But the traders condemned the action, saying the government had ‘killed’ their sources of livelihoods. “Some of us have been here since the early 2000s," they claimed.
"This market has been our source of income and now we are completely shuttered with this demolition," Jonah Kamau said.
“The structures you see here in pieces have taken our children to school and paid rent for us for many years. How does the government expect us to survive with this pandemic? Caroline Mueni said.
A vocal politician from Makadara who sought anonymity told the Star that the structures had been illegally set up and that the traders knew they were not supposed to build on railway land.
“As much as we support people’s sources of income, they know they are not supposed to build on this piece of land. The structures had been demolished back in 2018 but they constructed them again,” the politician said.
In May, Kenya Railways announced it was targeting 230,000 passengers a day after the completion of the Nairobi Commuter Rail Network.
To achieve this, the corporation is constructing commuter stations at Donholm, Dandora, Pipeline, Embakasi Village, Kikuyu, Ruiru, Kahawa, Athi River, Githurai and Mwiki.
The city’s commuter rail service was introduced in May 1992 in response to a series of PSV strikes.
However, due to poor standards, the Kenya Railway management said the rail service has been having a low level of demand.
The proposed Nairobi railway expansion which is estimated to cost Sh27 billion has already seen over 170 acres of land repossessed and gazetted by the government.
Part of the land covers Haile Selassie Avenue, Uhuru Highway, Bunyala Road, Commercial Street and Landhies Road and is expected to pave way for the city rail project.
Demolitions in Mutindwa Market is not a new phenomenon. The market is located in Buruburu estate within Makadara constituency off Outering Road.
The last demolitions happened in August 2018, when officials from City Hall’s inspectorate department oversaw the flattening of structures that stood on road reserves. All structures built less than three metres from the railway line were demolished.
Then City Hall director of operations Peter Mbaya said the traders' lives had been at risk due to their nearness to the railway.
In November 2017, Kenya Urban Roads Authority had announced the construction of a footbridge close to where the structures had been built.
Kura had also ordered traders at Mutindwa market to move to create room for expansion of Outering service lane.
Some structures were pulled down, but traders crept back and set up their stalls close to the railway line.
