Gakoromone traders set to move within a week as KSh1.2B market project nears start
Trade, Tourism and Cooperatives County Executive Committee Member Rev. Carol Kaberia, Adresses the press. Photo by Brian Gitonga
County officials and the Meru Municipality have inspected the new temporary site, clearing the final hurdle before construction of the modern market can begin
By Brian Gitonga
Gakoromone Market traders will relocate to a newly prepared temporary trading site within a week, clearing the way for construction of the KSh1.2B modern market promised by President William Ruto to begin without further delay.
County government and Meru Municipality officials inspected the new temporary site yesterday, two weeks after traders rejected an earlier proposed relocation point and demanded a more suitable alternative before agreeing to vacate the existing market. The inspection marked a significant step forward in a process that has required patient negotiation between the county administration and a trading community understandably cautious about disruption to its livelihoods.
Trade, Tourism and Cooperatives County Executive Committee Member Carol Kaberia, who led the inspection alongside Meru Municipality Manager Gitobu Nkanata, said preparations at the temporary site were progressing well and expressed appreciation for the traders’ willingness to cooperate.
“We appreciate Gakoromone traders for accepting to move to the new temporary market so that we can give the contractor enough space and time to begin work as soon as possible,” Kaberia said. She confirmed that construction of the temporary facility is expected to be completed within the next seven days, after which traders will receive formal relocation letters directing them to the new site.
Kaberia credited Governor Mutuma M’Ethingia with responding constructively to the traders’ earlier concerns, noting that the county administration’s willingness to find an alternative site rather than insist on the rejected location had been critical in securing cooperation. She described Gakoromone as one of Meru’s most important commercial centres and acknowledged that the families who depend on income from the market cannot afford prolonged uncertainty.
“The government of Governor M’Ethingia will continue supporting the traders and ensuring that they have a conducive environment in which to conduct their businesses during this transition,” she said.
Nkanata was equally candid about both the opportunity and the inconveniences ahead. He made clear that the temporary facility is precisely what its name suggests — a short-term arrangement expected to serve traders for approximately one year while the permanent structure takes shape. He acknowledged that traders would encounter some discomfort during the construction period, including dust and wind at the temporary site, but said these were manageable short-term challenges compared to the long-term benefit of a modern, well-organised market.
“This temporary market is meant to serve traders for a short period of about one year before we move to the modern market that will be built by the national government at a cost of KSh1.2B,” Nkanata said. He urged residents to support development projects in the town regardless of prevailing political differences, framing the new market not as a political achievement but as a practical investment in the livelihoods of thousands of families who depend on trade to pay school fees, build homes and sustain their households.
He also addressed the work already undertaken to prepare the temporary site, which included clearing trees and removing stumps. He was firm on the question of what happens to timber cleared from municipal land, warning that government trees are not for sale and that anyone found selling them would face prosecution.
“We do not sell trees belonging to the government. Anyone caught selling government trees should know that it is against the law and they can be prosecuted in a court of law,” Nkanata said. He added that wood cleared from the site would instead be distributed to Early Childhood Development centres and other public institutions, naming Mwiteria Primary, Kinoru Primary, Nthimbiri Primary and Meru Muslim among the potential beneficiaries.
For the traders of Gakoromone, the relocation is the bridge between a market they have known for years and one that promises to transform how they do business. The temporary site will not be comfortable in every respect — no transitional arrangement ever is — but the county administration’s assurance that the stay will be brief and the permanent market genuinely modern has, for now, carried sufficient weight to bring the community on board.
Construction of the KSh1.2B facility is expected to begin as soon as the site is vacated. Meru’s most important market is about to become something much bigger.
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