Gachagua: Nairobi traders called me over market relocation woes

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Friday evening said residents of Nairobi have been calling on him to intervene in the management affairs of the county following their standoff with the county government of Nairobi City on various matters.

During a live television interview in which the Deputy President was responding to questions posed to him, Gachagua who is now at loggerheads with Governor Johnson Sakaja said the residents told him that Sakaja's administration has not been treating them fairly.

"The people of Nairobi have been seeking me out for a while because they have had various challenges where they feel that they have not been treated fairly by the County government of Nairobi," said Gachagua.

Gachagua said that despite being the deputy President who handles national matters, he has had no option but to listen to the cries of traders in the city who he said have not been accorded fair treatment by Sakaja yet they contribute immensely to the economy of the city and country.

"I had to listen, that is what good leadership is all about," said Gachagua.

The difference between Sakaja and Gachagua came out openly on Friday when the deputy President toured the Marikiti market where he addressed aggrieved traders who are about to be relocated to a new market situated at Kangundo Road.

During Gachagua's tour of the market, he hinted at backing another candidate for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat in the 2027 election.

Sakaja on his part said the decision to relocate Marikiti traders to Kangundo Road Market is unstoppable.

He also clarified that his government has no plans to get rid of Marikiti Market.

The county boss condemned what he termed as incitement of traders at the market by DP Gachagua saying the continued sale of wares by the roadside endangers the lives of the traders.

"To Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua I say: If only you had taken your phone and called me as I had suggested, you would have learnt a few things,” Sakaja said in a statement on Friday.

Gachagua who spoke in his native Kikuyu dialect during his tour asked the governor to halt plans to relocate the traders and hold consultations with the affected lot.

Sakaja, however, said the DP missed the whole point of what the county government was doing for the traders.

“My government has no plan to relocate the Marikiti Market. Selected produce will be delivered to the other markets we have built using taxpayers' money. What we will not allow are traders endangering their lives by selling their wares on the roadside. They will move to Kangundo Road Market,” Sakaja said.

Sakaja supported his position by referencing an incident in June last year where 52 roadside traders lost their lives in Londiani, Kericho county after a truck ploughed into them as they went about their business.

"Thirty of them sustained life-changing injuries. These people cannot come back to life. I have a duty and mandate that will not let me fall for populist political gimmicks at the expense of the lives and safety of Nairobians," Sakaja said.

"A leader of your calibre should provide informed solutions in our country. Nairobi is a cosmopolitan global hub that will operate in an orderly manner."

The governor said the move to relocate the traders was reached in consultation with the farmers where he met the leadership of Wakulima/Marikiti Market last week.

"We agreed on these and other measures that will ease congestion in the market and improve the safety and welfare of our traders and citizens,” he said.

He added that the city residents are all in agreement that order must rein in the city and the leadership of the market is in support of the move.

"Nairobi is a cosmopolitan global hub that will operate in an orderly manner. I can assure you of that. I know you are dealing with other weighty and impending political issues. Keep the people of Nairobi out of it," Sakaja said.