Millions of shillings lost as Nairobi’s Toi market razed down

A huge fire has razed down stalls at Nairobi’s Toi Market in Kibera destroying property worth millions of shillings.

According to witnesses the fire broke out at 3am on Tuesday and by 6.30 am, the flames were still spreading in the stalls and the shanites.

The open air market located about seven kilometres from Nairobi CBD is famously known for selling second hand clothes, toys, artifacts and fresh produce.

Businesspeople are reported to be injured by deep cuts and burns as they tried to rescue left goods from the inferno.

By 9am, two firefighter engines from Nairobi County Government were still trying to fight the fire that had spread and consumed a huge section of the market.

An electric fault is suspected to be the cause of the inferno that has left traders counting their losses.

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The county government, is reported, to have plans of constructing modern houses on the four-acre land that hosts more than 5,000 small scale traders with over 3,000 stalls.

In 2014, another fire broke out in the market in morning hours leading to speculation by traders and locals that it was an arson by unknown people who wanted to grab the land.

This comes after Gikomba Market was razed down by another inferno in February 2019, three months after another fire incident broke out in November 2018.

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The common fire at Gikomba Market are marred with speculations of driving the traders and tenants away from the piece of land allocated for small business.

Small scale traders and investors are constantly fighting infernos that destroy the sources of their livelihoods with police investigations bearing minimal fruits in explaining the causes of fire or arrests.