Editor's Review

Ruto said the 1,500 traders displaced to pave the way for the project's construction will be prioritised in the stall allocation.

President William Ruto claimed that without his intervention, the construction of Masinde Muliro Market in Kitale, Trans Nzoia,  would not have been complete. 

Speaking on Friday, October 16, Ruto claimed that the project had stalled for four years before he mobilised funds from the national government to complete it. 

He said that he instructed Housing Principal Secretary (PS) Charles Hinga to source funds to complete the final stages of the project.

"I stepped in because the market had stalled for four years. I told PS Hinga to look for the little money left to complete the construction of the market so that we can settle the businessmen and women who had been displaced to pave the way for the construction," Ruto stated.

The President officially handed over the market to the traders. He warned individuals trying to take over the project and sell the stalls to traders that they would face the full force of the law.

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An aerial view of the Masinde Muliro Market.

Ruto said the 1,500 traders displaced to give way for the project's construction will be given priority when the stalls in the modern market are distributed.

He further donated Ksh15 million to the traders, who had suffered business losses as they waited for the Masinde Muliro Market to be completed.

"There are some people who think that they can sell those stalls to the traders. We have a list, which is also in Washington in the USA, of 1,500 entrepreneurs who had been affected by the construction, and they will be the first to get stalls in the market,"

"I am here with the chairperson and vice chair of the market. I will give each of the 1,5000 entrepreneurs Ksh10,000 each so that they can continue with their business," the President reiterated.

The Head of State revealed that the modern market provides 2,980 trading spaces and cold storage facilities, among others. He said the facility will provide traders with a modern, organised and dignified business environment.

Ruto has been involved in a push and pull with Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya, who argued that the President cannot commission a project which was funded by the county government.

Natembeya threatened to replace the plaque bearing Ruto's name and replace it with one bearing his own.