Nairobi's Gikomba Market Braves Terror Scars

Gikomba is one of the largest open-air markets – not only in Nairobi, but across the East Africa region.



Rain or shine, it's always teeming with shoppers, anxiously seeking the best deals on second-hand wares.



The only way to access the market is by muddy, narrow roads full of potholes.



One rarely sees cars inside the market.



On May 16, the lively market was subject to an attack that authorities immediately blamed on Somalia's Al-Shabab militant group.



Two improvised explosive devices, which had been planted in the market, exploded, killing ten and injuring at least 70 others.



"I didn't show up for work the next day," Maryanne Wanjiku, a 38-year-old mother of two who sells bed sheets at the market, told Anadolu Agency.



"This market is so huge, and we usually don't have police here, so anything could have happened," she said.



For days, business suffered, as most Kenyans steered clear of the usually bustling marketplace.



"When we came back, shoppers were not yet convinced that the market was safe because we heard… that more attacks were going on in these areas," Wanjiku recalled, pointing to Nairobi's Eastleigh district, which borders the market.



Eastleigh, a neighborhood known as "Little Mogadishu" due to its large number of Somali residents, has recently been the target of several militant attacks.



It was also the primary target of a recent security sweep that saw thousands of people, mostly Muslims, detained for screening.



"Now I was sure business would never return to what it was," Wanjiku said. "And I was even more worried about what my kids would eat."



-Revived-



Only a few weeks later, however, business at the market was booming again.



"Hii ni Kenya [this is Kenya]," said a relieved Wanjiku. "Kenyans always forgive and forget such matters."



"I think business has been so good [recently] because people had been avoiding the market for so long [in the wake of the bombing]," the sheet seller said.



She added: "I managed to sell a few bales of sheets in just one week – this wasn't even the case before the attacks."



Peter Kariuki Njenga, meanwhile, who sells second-hand shoes in Gikomba, says he has never done such good business since he first came to the market in 2008.



"After the Al-Shabaab attack, most of us thought business would never be the same again," the 35-year-old vendor told AA.



"Some of my friends even opted to go back to their rural homes, since shoppers weren't visiting the market anymore," he said.



"We should have known better," Njenga added with a laugh.



"Kenyans love cheap merchandise; they were never going to desert us," he said. "After things cooled down, they thronged the market, buying anything and everything they could lay their hands on."



"Most of us ran out of things to sell. I even sold my old stock of shoes," recalled a smiling Njenga.



-Concerns-



Many, however, remain skeptical regarding security at the sprawling market.



Thomas Mulei, a 25-year-old who sells clothes not far from where the attack occurred, said no steps had been taken to improve security.



"Gikomba is open," he told AA. "We don't even have gates where you can frisk someone who enters the market."



"In one day, I see thousands of new faces and maybe one policeman walking around," said Mulei. "This isn't sufficient; we should have a police post or police station close by so we know we are safe."



Halima Aaeesha, a 28-year-old shopper and Eastleigh resident, could not agree more.



"This place is definitely not secure. I still remember the gory images that circulated at the time of the attack," she told AA. "A normal person will not feel secure in this market."



"This place has zero security; we could be attacked any time," Aaeesha insisted. "Until I see this market demarcated by fences, no one will convince me [of its safety]."



She called on the authorities to build a police post in the vicinity. "We need [police] patrols," she insisted.



"This market doesn't only belong to Kenyans. Look at all the traders from Tanzania and other countries," Aaeesha said.



"Look at the tourists," she added. "My message to my government is that they should wake up."



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