Reprieve for city's Marikiti traders as court halts relocation to Kangundo Road

Traders at Nairobi’s Wakulima Market, also known as Marikiti, have won a reprieve from planned eviction by the city’s authorities.

Milimani High Court Judge Bahati Mwamuye on Friday halted the eviction order issued by Nairobi City County, which had required traders to move to the New Wakulima Market on Kangundo Road.

On September 10, 2024, City Hall had given the traders a notice to relocate.

But Judge Mwamuye issued an order preventing the county from evicting the traders or disrupting their operations at the Wakulima Market in the CBD until the matter is resolved.

"Pending inter partes hearing and determination of this application, an order is hereby issued restraining the county from evicting the traders operating within or in the vicinity of Wakulima Market, Nairobi, or interfering with their business operations in those areas," Judge Mwamuye stated.

The judge also directed the traders and the county to meet next Tuesday to discuss the issue and report back to the court. The case will be reviewed on September 30 for further instructions.

The court action was prompted by a lawsuit filed by the Wakulima Market Traders Association which argues that the relocation notice was issued without consulting the traders or giving reasons for the move.

They claim that the county's failure to explain the reasons for the relocation constitutes a violation of their rights.

"The lack of [giving] a reason to the petitioners amounts to an infringement of the petitioners' rights," the traders told the court.

The traders at Nairobi’s Marikiti market had been given an ultimatum to relocate to the new Wakulima Market along Kangundo Road within seven days or risk losing their market spaces there.

On Thursday morning they staged protests against the relocation, leading to traffic disruptions and forcing police to use tear gas on them.

Some of the protesting traders had lamented that City Hall had issued a vacation notice directing them to move immediately, which was inconvenient to them.

Some also claimed that they had not been allocated spaces at the new market and that it was already full.