The government will invest in a call centre to gather and act on intelligence reports on persistent fires at Gikomba market in addition to installing high mast CCTV cameras, the Treasury says.
Treasury secretary Ukur Yatani said the government has listed the frequent fires at the country’s largest open-air market as an evolving act of terrorism that poses a fiscal risk to the economy.
The mitigation measures aimed at cutting losses of billions of shillings in arson attacks also include drilling of a borehole and erecting a 100,000-litre steel tank to provide running water in case of fire emergencies.
“Fire outbreaks that have constantly evolved in the Gikomba market of Nairobi County have posed a threat to the economic well-being of thousands of self-employed traders,” Mr Yatani has written in the 2022 Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
“In the past decade, the Gikomba market has reported cases of fire outbreaks that have constantly been linked to arson attacks as opposed to natural occurrences.”
The minister says the call centre backed up with real-time surveillance cameras will help apprehend perpetrators of arson, without disclosing the budget for security and disaster management measures at the market in the medium-term expenditure plan.
Gikomba, Kenya’s largest informal market for second-hand clothing and footwear as well as furniture, is said to be a source of livelihoods to millions of persons directly and indirectly.
Interior Principal Secretary Dr Karanja Kibicho announced early August that a contractor has been engaged to install security cameras at the market.
At least three fire incidents have razed down sections of the vast, poorly-planned market since Dr Kibicho’s visit — on November 26, November 8 and October 19.
More than 900 traders at Gikomba in August sued the Nairobi County government, demanding Sh20 billion in compensation as a result of constant fires at the giant market.
The traders had listed 15 fire incidents since 2015 saying the frequent occurrences show that the county government has failed to take any or adequate precautions for their safety and that of the public while doing their business at Gikomba Market.
A probe ordered by the President in October 2017 is yet to provide conclusive answers and there have been numerous fire outbreaks since then.
There have been allegations that land ownership tussles between tenants in county-owned houses, suspected land grabbers and traders have fuelled the perennial fires.
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