By Issa Hussein - Reporter
Kenya, 21 June 2026 - As smoke continued to rise from the charred remains of Gikomba Market on Sunday morning, Lydia Wanjiru sat silently beside what was left of her stall, struggling to comprehend the loss of the business that had sustained her family for years.
Around her, traders picked through piles of ash and twisted metal sheets, searching for anything that might have survived the inferno that swept through one of Nairobi's largest open-air markets.
For Wanjiru, there was little hope of recovering anything.
She said she received a phone call in the early hours of Sunday morning informing her that the market was on fire. She immediately rushed to Gikomba, hoping to rescue some of her merchandise.
By the time she arrived, however, the flames had already engulfed her stall.
Pointing to a section where embers were still burning hours later, she recalled leaving her business there the previous evening before heading home.
"I lost everything. We did not salvage anything from the fire," she said.
Wanjiru is among thousands of traders whose businesses were destroyed in the latest fire to hit Gikomba, a market that has become synonymous not only with commerce but also with recurring fire disasters that have repeatedly wiped out livelihoods.
Sunday's fire left a trail of destruction across several sections of the market and neighbouring residential areas.
Among the affected locations were Gikomba Market stalls and structures, Gorofani Estate, Bondeni Estate, Kwa Mandizi Market, Kwa Bags Market, Kwa Kuku Market, Kwa Uniforms Market, Kwa Shirts na Jeans Market, the timber section, fish section and the Daraja trading area.
What is normally a bustling commercial hub attracting thousands of buyers and sellers daily had transformed into a landscape of devastation.
Burnt stalls stretched as far as the eye could see, while traders wandered through the wreckage attempting to assess losses accumulated over years of hard work.
Among them was Zakaria Mukami, who operated several shoe shops within the market.
Standing beside one of his businesses, which was still smouldering hours after the blaze, Mukami struggled to hold back tears.
The destruction, he said, had erased years of investment and effort in a single night.
"Please help me," he pleaded, appealing to the government for assistance.
Mukami said he was alerted to the fire at around 3am and rushed to the market immediately.
"I was called at around 3:00am and was told Gikomba was on fire, and I immediately rushed here," he said.
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But like many other traders, he arrived too late.
"The fire was huge, and it was not possible to salvage anything," he added.
For many traders, Sunday's inferno was not just another disaster—it was a painful reminder of a problem that has persisted for years.
Gikomba has experienced numerous major fires over the past decade, with each incident leaving traders to rebuild from scratch, often without insurance or adequate financial support.
The repeated losses have exposed the vulnerability of thousands of small-scale entrepreneurs who rely on the market for their daily income.
Many traders expressed frustration that despite the frequency of such incidents, long-term measures to prevent fires and improve safety infrastructure have been slow to materialise.
The latest blaze destroyed hundreds of stalls and temporary structures, wiping out merchandise, equipment and personal belongings stored within the businesses.
For many families, the losses extend beyond property.
Gikomba supports thousands of livelihoods directly and indirectly, serving as a key source of income for traders, transporters, food vendors and casual labourers.
The recurring fires have renewed focus on proposals by President William Ruto to modernise Gikomba Market and improve safety standards.
In recent years, the President has pledged government support for the redevelopment of Gikomba into a modern market equipped with improved infrastructure, including permanent structures, better access roads, enhanced drainage systems and fire safety measures.
The proposed upgrades are intended to reduce the risk of devastating fires while creating a safer and more conducive trading environment for thousands of entrepreneurs.
Government officials have previously indicated that modernisation plans would include improved electrical installations, designated trading zones and emergency response facilities aimed at preventing the kind of destruction witnessed repeatedly at the market.
For traders like Wanjiru and Mukami, however, such promises offer little immediate comfort as they face the daunting task of rebuilding their lives once again.
As the ashes cooled on Sunday, many were left wondering how many more fires Gikomba must endure before lasting solutions are finally implemented.
Kenya's popular television station NTV reported that there were at least two deaths and several injured, though it did not mention sources.