Traders in Nairobi's South B get reprieve as KURA halts demolition plans

Hundreds of traders in Nairobi's South B estates have been handed a reprieve after the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) temporarily put on hold plans to demolish structures built along various road corridors.

The traders who have been operating on various roads in the area had been issued with a notice to vacate by KURA.

The roads include Kapiti, Aoko, Plainsview, Mwangeka, Sore, Mchumbi, Daidai, Mukenia and Mariakani.

However, after talks between the traders, the area MCA and the authority, the vacation notice has been put on hold.

During a consultative meeting with the traders on Saturday, South B MCA Waithera Chege explained that their case was unique because the ward doesn't have a market from which the traders can operate.

"It's a relief for us because KURA has listened to our appeal as South B traders. We have agreed that those who have shops should put their items inside the shops and those who are selling by the roadside should remove their commodities there," she said.

From the meeting, we agreed to engage with traders in the ward to ensure that there is no garbage being dumped on the road and in the drainages.

Waithera who is also the Deputy Minority Leader at the County Assembly of Nairobi told the traders that they must now prioritise clearing the drainage along the roads since they have no other market options to sell their goods.

"We have agreed on two issues; traders must ensure they collect garbage and clear the drainages along the roads if they are to continue with their businesses," she said.

Illegal encroachment

KURA had accused the traders of illegal encroachment, breaching Section 49 (a) of the Kenya Roads Act and not seeking KURA's permission to build their structures.

Traders in South B Estate during a consultative meeting with the area MCA Waithera Chege in South B, Starehe sub-county, Nairobi on June 15, 2024. (Photo: Facebook/ Waithera Chege)

The Roads Act prohibits any unauthorised structure on, over or below the surface of a road reserve. It also prohibits any vehicular or pedestrian obstruction without KURA's permission.

KURA had in September 2021 given notice to the traders to pull down all structures erected along the roads, failure to which the properties would be demolished.

However, this has never come to pass but the traders have been living in fear of the demolitions ever since.

Operating from the encroached roadside land has led to the illegal dumping of garbage in the open drainages which results in stagnant water.

Most traders in South B operate along road reserves as there is no public market in the ward.

The traders include vegetable vendors, clothes sellers, shoe hawkers, and those vending building materials.

The traders will however soon have a permanent trading place once the construction of the modern market in South B centre is completed.

"President William Ruto listened to us and agreed to allocate Sh400 million towards the construction of the market here, in one of the public lands that had been grabbed," Waithera said.

The South B market is among the 20 new market structures to be constructed in the densely populated capital as a lasting solution to the increasing slum problem and congestion in the city.

The project is part of the Kenya Kwanza Government and Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja's manifesto.

The land, LR NO 209/12612 where the market will be built has been contested in the past.

In August 2023, a commotion arose following reports of individuals purportedly dispatched to dismantle structures erected on the disputed land.

Local residents pulled down the fence, leaving the area unoccupied since then.

In September, South B residents protested against the alleged land grabbing where they urged the county and national governments to protect the land meant for the construction of the only market in the ward.

The following month, the Nairobi county government declared that the contested land belonged to the community.