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New market set to be game-changer for Nyeri traders
Work in progress at the Chaka modern market in Nyeri County. The Sh1 billion market is expected to boost economy of the region especially for the local farmers.
A 15-minute drive from Nyeri town on the route heading to Nanyuki takes one to Chaka market, an open-air facility that stands out on the edges of the Nyeri-Naromoru highway.
Here, traders sell their wares by the roadside exposed to the vagaries of weather and heavy traffic on the busy road.
Kieni Constituency in which the market is located is mainly an agricultural region known for growing onions, tomatoes and milk production.
Faith Wanjiru has sold vegetables and cereals at Chaka for more than seven years.
Traders at Chaka market in Nyeri do their business under murky conditions following the heavy rains on May 6, 2020.
“It is a tough calling. We are exposed to motorists and the train recently made a comeback, using the railway near our market and therefore safety is not a guarantee although we were moved a little further away from the line,” she says.
But the nearing completion of a new ultra-modern market just opposite where Wanjiru and other traders operate has given a sense of dignity to small-scale traders and boosted their morale.
The completion of the market promises to alleviate the suffering of vendors like Wanjiru.
About 1,000 traders are set to use the new Sh1 billion Chaka market.
Speaking during the inspection of the project, Principal Secretary for Water, Sanitation and Irrigation Joseph Irungu said the contractors have two weeks to complete phase two of the project.
“The traders currently relying on the open-air market along the road will have been able to access the market by the end of March,” the Principal Secretary said on Thursday.
Nyeri Trade and Co-operative Executive Diana Kendi said that only traders that had been vetted by the county government will be allowed to sell their produce in the market.
Already, the Trade CEC said that they were in the process of vetting traders applying for an allocation of space at the market.
“After the contractor is done, we will only take a week to assess and produce a final list for the sellers set to be allocated market stalls,” said Ms Kendi.
It’s only the sellers that are currently relying on the open-air Chaka market will be allowed to sell their produce at the seven-acre modern market.
Others are Matatu saccos currently based in Chaka town that will benefit from the one-and-a-half-acre modern bus park also established in the market.
Nyeri Trade CEC Diana Kendi, centre, discusses a point with Water and Irrigation PS Joseph Irungu and Correction and Services Zeinab Hussein during the inspection of the new Chaka market on February 25, 2021. Six Principal Secretaries joined the local leadership in the inspection of six national government projects in a bid to fast track them. The Chaka market is expected to be handed over to the County government in March. Other present were Health PS Susan Mochache, Forestry Chris Kiptoo, Correction and Services Zeinab Hussein, Health Susan Mochache and Housing and Urban Development Charles Hinga. Photo/ JOSEPH KANYI
Phase one of the project was started in 2016 and was completed in 2020.
It consists of a twin wholesalers’ block, retail block and lockable kiosks.
Phase two, which has taken six months’ duration, consists of a Matatu terminus, open-air market and a value-addition block, which sellers will use to process their vegetables.
Mr Irungu said that the Kenya Industrial Estate (KIE) had also purchased another 28 acres in which phase three of the market will be constructed.
Phase three of the project will entail a cooling plant, Huduma Centre, police post and modern playground.
Ms Wanjiru lauded the initiative saying it also comes with secure parking for motorists who are mostly their clients.
“The fact that it is near the road ensures we still maintain our clients,” she said.
Kieni MP Kanini Kega said the market is to be upgraded into an industrial hub to serve not only the county but the entire Mt Kenya region. This is part of the third phase of the market.
He said should the facility be upgraded into a special economic zone, the goods that will be processed there will fall under international law.
The new Chaka market has an open-air market for food traders, clothes traders, matatu and bodaboda terminus, banking halls, a sacco, cold rooms, eateries and a wellness centre, among others.
