A fire that broke out in the early hours of Wednesday at Kerugoya town has left around 90 traders devastated, with their business premises completely destroyed.

The cause of the fire, which erupted at 2 am, remains unknown, and the County Government of Kirinyaga has urged police to conduct a thorough investigation to uncover what led to the blaze.

Deputy Governor David Githanda, speaking at the scene of the fire, confirmed that the traders, who operate under the Jua Kali sector, lost property of unknown value.

Githanda, accompanied by Kirinyaga Central Member of Parliament Gachoki Gitari, visited the site to assess the damage and reassure the affected traders.

He emphasised that the County Government had no intention of displacing the traders from the public land on which their kiosks had been constructed.

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“The Governor has sent us here as a team to show solidarity and offer her support to you. The County has a very clear and elaborate process of relocating people from a public land and this includes issuance of written notices and we have not issued any notice to that effect,” Githanda stated.

The fire, which impacted mechanics, spare parts dealers, and general merchandise traders, caught the county off-guard as its fire response team was engaged in battling another fire in Mwea sub-county.

Consequently, Kirinyaga County had to request assistance from the neighbouring Nyeri County’s fire department.

In a bid to support the affected traders, Governor Anne Waiguru donated Sh100,000, which was delivered by the Deputy Governor.

Githanda encouraged the traders to begin rebuilding their structures and resume business as soon as possible.

Jackson Maina, Chairman of the Kerugoya Jua Kali association, expressed his gratitude for the County Government’s assurances, saying, “We want to thank the County Government because they have said they have no plan to evict us from this land. We are also grateful of the support the governor and our MP have offered us to restart again.”

MP Gachoki Gitari, who also contributed Sh80,000 to the affected traders, urged politicians not to use the incident for political gain. “We are asking leaders to offer their support to the traders so that they can restart their businesses again instead of seeking political mileage out of it,” he said, further pledging to mobilise more resources to aid the traders in reconstructing their kiosks.

As the investigation into the cause of the fire begins, the affected traders are faced with the daunting task of rebuilding their businesses from scratch.

However, with the support of local leaders and the County Government, they remain hopeful of bouncing back from the disaster.