NAIROBI, Kenya — President William Ruto has defended the government’s plan to redevelop Gikomba Market into a modern national trading hub, insisting that traders are fully supportive of the project despite growing controversy over recent demolitions.
Speaking during a Maendeleo ya Wanawake meeting at State House, Ruto dismissed claims of division, saying consultations with traders had produced a consensus on the redevelopment.
“The traders themselves have an agreement with me. Even the chairman of Gikomba said yesterday that they have agreed with the government,” he said.
The President warned politicians against politicising the project or introducing tribal narratives, arguing that such actions could derail a development initiative aimed at improving livelihoods.
“There are people trying to bring politics into this… I want to tell those people take your tribalism elsewhere. Leave Gikomba traders alone,” Ruto said.
He noted that traders had directly petitioned him to intervene and address long-standing challenges at the market, including poor sanitation, congestion, and frequent fire outbreaks.
“They told me Gikomba is a place of mud, with sewage flowing through it… and asked me to help them, and I promised I would rebuild it,” he added.
The redevelopment will be implemented in phases, starting with a linear market designed to accommodate about 5,000 traders, supported by an initial Sh800 million allocation. A further Sh3 billion has been set aside, with long-term plans for a multi-storey complex estimated to cost Sh5 billion.
“We are going to transform Gikomba into a national trading hub… a modern, seven-storey market where traders can work in dignity,” the President said.
The project forms part of the government’s Bottom-Up economic model, which seeks to uplift small-scale traders by providing improved infrastructure such as water, electricity, sanitation, storage, and childcare facilities.
Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga said the construction will be phased to minimise disruption, noting that relocating all traders at once is impractical.
“It is not possible to relocate more than 200,000 traders at once… no one will lose their livelihood because we have provided alternative areas for trading,” Hinga said.
He described Gikomba as a market that has outgrown its capacity, with congestion and poor planning undermining efficiency despite its economic importance.
However, the redevelopment has sparked backlash following the demolition of structures in the shoe section on March 30, an exercise linked to reclaiming riparian land and paving the way for a riverfront project.
Traders reported losses worth millions of shillings after bulldozers moved in overnight, with some accusing authorities of exceeding agreed demolition boundaries — claims that have drawn criticism from sections of political leadership.
By Tuesday morning, affected traders were seen sifting through debris, attempting to salvage goods in a market that supports thousands of livelihoods and serves as a critical hub for second-hand goods in the region.
While the government maintains the redevelopment will ultimately create a safer and more organised trading environment, the immediate impact has highlighted tensions between long-term urban planning goals and the short-term economic realities faced by informal traders.
