Kitengela at standstill as local Maasai clash with traders over market space

Business in Kitengela Town was Tuesday disrupted as a section of traders rioted over allocation of market space by the Kajiado County Government.

Riot police were deployed to the town, located along the Nairobi-Namanga Highway, to quell the violence.

A section of the rioters at the market.  (PHOTO: COURTESY)

Shops and banks, among other businesses, were closed in the height of the fracas.

According to sources, the Maasai are demanding that half of the market space be allocated to them as the rest of the communities share the other half.

Maasai locals at Kitengela market. They are allegedly demanding that half of the market space be allocated to them as the rest of the communities share the other half. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

The Maasai community claims that outsiders have taken over the town yet they (the Maasai) are the indigenous.