By Betty Luke
Traders who operate at Isiolo town open air market every Thursday are set to resume following a week long impasse with the county government.
The traders were last week ejected out of the market, popularly known as Mariri, following a directive by the municipality forcing them to display their goods along Isiolo-Meru road near Isiolo International Airport diversion.
The standoff, The Press Point is reliably informed, is over business rivalry with other traders accusing their open air market counterparts of selling at cheaper prices to throw them out of business.
There has been concerns that some of the traders, who sell second hand clothes and other wears, were selling on both wholesale and retail business.
The last Thursday incident caused uproar online with residents and the affected traders accusing the management of Isiolo Municipality of tribalism.
Finance Chief Officer Peter Ngechu days ago assured that plans were underway to ensure that the traders continue operating at the market.
Nr Ngechu said the county government was committed to addressing the stalemate to ensure traders continue operating without any interference.
“We are engaging all stakeholders to ensure traders continue operating without the disruptions,” Mr Ngechu said while assuring that measures were being put in place to ensure similar incident does not recur.
The Municipality announced that only traders in retail business will be allowed back starting tomorrow (June 24).
The traders will be required to follow some guidelines which will be communicated tomorrow.
