What is the current situation at Karimbux-Baringo stage?
A section of Karimbux lane where stalls had been erected is fenced off after the stalls were destroyed on May 25, 2024.
The Baringo-Karimbux land saga has been a topic of dispute among the traders in the market for a better part of the week.
On Sunday morning traders at Karimbux stage woke up to ugly scenes of destroyed stalls inside the stage.
The stalls were initially on the right hand side of the road coming down from Naivas down town to Kingdom seekers church.
It has now been three days since the demolitions occurred.
According to the County Trade Executive Stephen Muiruri, 52 businesses have been affected so far.
Nakuru County Trade CEC Stephen Muiruri during an interview at his office on May 28, 2024.
"We as the County government are looking for a solution and trying to find ways in which we can sort out these issues." he says.
Mr. Muiruri adds that the County Government is looking for an alternative place to relocate the traders as a way of compensation.
The Trade Executive agreed that the Saturday night incident had caused jitters among the remaining traders.
“There are fears among other traders along this stretch. We are aware that this issue has set a very bad precedent and other grabbers along this stretch might want to use the same method to displace the stall owners at Karimbux,"he notes.
He continues to say that as the government they will also seek help from the various government agencies that will come in handy in helping to curb this menace of land grabbing.
"We will be seeking assistance from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the National Land Commission (NLC) so that we can reclaim that entire piece of land, where we can build a modern market and a better matatu terminus," he concludes.