- Abdi Ahmed who runs grocery shop at the Orahey market said it was wrong for the county to carry the exercise at night.
- Zeinab Hussein called on affected traders to join hands and mount a strong case against the county administration.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Traders from Garissa have threatened to move to court to challenge demolition of their stalls by the county government.
Abdi Ahmed who runs grocery shop at the Orahey market, said it was wrong for the county to carry out the exercise at night.
“Honestly why did they have to wait when we are not around in the dead of the night to come destroy our property? This is unacceptable and cannot go unchallenged,” he said.
Zeinab Hussein called on affected traders to join hands and mount a strong case against the county administration, that she said was carrying out illegal exercises.
On Sunday, traders at the Orahey market woke up to demolished stalls as the county made good its threat.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
Three weeks ago, the county in a letter, issued a three weeks notice to the small scale traders, to relocate to the newly constructed modern market along posta road.
On Sunday shocked traders could be seen consoling each other as they hit out at the county over their action that they termed as inhuman.
Amina Weirah who runs a grocery shop at the market, said she had lost goods worth over Sh600,000, wondering who will compensate her for the huge loses.
“I was not given a stall at the new market, the allocation exercise was marred by corruption and nepotism. We have been protesting at the municipality offices for the last three weeks, yet there is no help. The worst came today after a bulldozer was brought to vandalise our stalls,” she said.
Abdi Hassan who owns an eatery along the road, claimed his property including chairs, fridge’s, utensils as well as cooking machines, were destroyed by the bulldozers.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
He wondered how the county expected him to run his hotel business having been allocated a small space in the new modern market yet he needs a bigger space.
“How does the county expect me to run my hotel business at the new market? I had requested for a spacious stall that would accommodate my business only to wake up to this destruction,” he said.
The Garissa municipality CEO Mohamed Osman was not available for a comment on the demolition.
However, in a previous interview, he refuted the accusations of exclusion of the rightful beneficiaries.
“The Orahey open air market traders were against the size of the retail and table stalls awarded to them. They needed extra stalls to accommodate their large scale business. This proved to be a challenge since the modern market was designed to accommodate one single trader per stall,” he said.
He further clarified that the new market features 202 retail stalls and 216 tables.
Despite its size limitations, it is designed to accommodate the traders from Orahey open-air market who had been given notice to vacate and decongest Posta Road.
The CEO who denied corruption claims in the allocation of the stalls, directed all with evidence to share with his office and the Ethic and Anti Corruption regional office in Garissa town.
The market was opened three weeks ago by Garissa Governor Nathif Jama paving way for its occupation by traders who were to be displaced from the Orahey market to allow road expansion.