Stop paying lip-service to small traders, they pay taxes and rates

Building and shelters which were damaged by the Gikomba fire that left 16 people dead. [Photo: File, Standard]

Gikomba market traders have suffered long enough, and it is time authorities led by the national government, stopped giving lip-service to them.

For 18 years, these traders have lost 20 lives directly and hundreds of livelihoods shattered by the periodic infernos, which nobody seems to be willing to extinguish.

Hundreds of traders, who are diligent tax and rates payers, have succumbed to depression after losing all their investments.

Many of them have been financed by banks, which immediately come for them when they are unable to service loans.

And every time there are elections, politicians of all shades flock the bustling trade area, and standing on the traders’ ruins, they give lofty promises, which are never fulfilled.

The promises are often accompanied by token donations meant to assist the victims to rebuild their ramshackle stalls, which are then razed to the ground by the next fire. The politicians shout the loudest, only to disappear into thin air once elected into office.

The ingenuity of Gikomba traders should be supported by sound government policies and replicated to other parts of the country.

This will not only create more job opportunities, but also spark off economic growth. Unfortunately, these lower cadre investors have been left to their own devices to be devoured by faceless sadists, prepared to go to any length to achieve their selfish schemes.

It is apparent that both the county and the national governments have failed these Kenyans by not providing a conducive environment to conduct their businesses.

Still, the fires at Gikomba ought to be a case study of how not to respond to disasters. For how long will the government wipe away the tears of these victims with empty promises?

As the traders bury their dead and seek resources to fund medication of those injured, they should be considered as human beings. They are not mere statistical data to be tallied and filed away in archives.

 The igniters of these inexplicable fires should be punished heavily, to give the traders an opportunity to nurture their cottage industries.