Marikiti market traders in Kisii town have held a protest over a move by the Kisii County Government to relocate them from their usual place of operation, beside the road side. The protests led to the stop of many other businesses in the town for fear of losing property. The protesting business people said that the government has put up various structures that have reduced their working spaces and called on the county government to construct and allocate them a different market where they will not be in confrontations with the county government askaris. The traders said that they have always asked the management starting from the then municipal to the county government but the issues seem not to be important to the leadership since they have not been attended to. “We are being looked down upon by our leaders from the county government because the issues we raise are always the same, we have no space for business yet the county has a lot of public land that can be used for our relocation,” said one of the traders. The Kisii County Land Management Board chairman, Ombasa Omweno, however assured the protesting traders that all public land that was put aside for markets shall be used to build modern markets and any land that is grabbed shall be returned. “We shall return all public land that is grabbed and build markets where they are supposed to be built,” he said.

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