Police were forced to use teargas to disperse the angry traders who had lit up bonfires on the road paralysing transport in the busy town/OJWANG JOE
Police were forced to use teargas to disperse the angry traders who had lit up bonfires on the road paralysing transport in the busy town.
Kisumu County Deputy Governor Ruth Odinga who spoke to the media said the county will have a dialogue with the traders to ensure they are moved to designated areas that had been approved for relocation.
“We are going to have dialogue with these traders and find solutions of relocating them to different markets,” Odinga said.
Some of the markets the traders are supposed to go include Kibuye market, Kowino market in Nyalenda, Kosawo market in Manyatta, Migosi market in Migosi, Fresh fish market in Jubilee, among others.
She further noted that on the destruction of traders’ goods, the county government will look for a plan of compensating them.
The traders are said to have been given a three months notice to vacate the already designated markets to give way for the construction of Nairobi-Kisumu road but remained adamant.
However Oile Traders Association Chairman Charles Addah complained that they had only been given a 7-day notice and not three months which was not enough.
Addah adds that despite being forced to leave the disputed market, they have no clear guidance on how to relocate to the new areas.
“They have been moving us around since time immemorial. When we settle in one market, they chase us again. When we move, they come and throw us out. Now we are being moved again,” Addah lamented.
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