Malindi market traders protest against elections of new officials

Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi engages with a trader at the Kwa Jiwa market on August 23, 2019 in Malindi town. [File, Standard]

A section of traders at Kwa Jiwa market in Malindi town, Kilifi County, have protested against the election of new market committee officials, stating that outsiders infiltrated the process.

Led by Joyce Wambui and Mark Kimwele, the traders said that county officials officiating the exercise had sneaked in non-market traders to stifle the polls.

Wambui called for the postponement of the process and threatened to move to court if it continued, arguing that it was unfair to genuine traders at the market.

"We were ready for the elections of new committee officials, but when we arrived here, we found that the election rules had been skewed to include people who do not have stalls in this market.

"The whole process is unfair, and we have tried to demand that it be stopped until the law is followed, but the county officials have insisted that it should continue," she said.

She proposed that the elections be conducted using the list of 400 traders with stalls inside the market.

"What we want is that the voting be done by the 400 stall owners since outsiders will not articulate our issues with the county government of Kilifi, as they have no idea what the market is all about," she added.

She said failure to stop the elections will force them to move to court to demand new polls.