For thousands of traders in Kitale, the opening of the Sh840 million Masinde Muliro Modern Market was supposed to end years of hardship and provide a more secure place to do business.
Instead, the project has become the centre of a political battle between President William Ruto and Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya, with competing claims over its funding, management and stall allocation leaving traders uncertain about their future.
At stake are 2,980 trading spaces in a flagship public investment whose funding, management and ownership have become subjects of competing claims between the National Government and the county administration.
While the President says he intervened to revive a project that had stalled for four years, Mr Natembeya insists the county financed most of the construction and is being denied credit for its investment.
The dispute has now spilled into the wider political contest in Trans Nzoia, with leaders allied to the President defending national government projects and accusing the governor of allowing political rivalry to overshadow development.
But beneath the political exchanges is a more immediate question for traders who have waited years for the market to reopen: will the new facility restore their livelihoods, or will they be locked out of the very spaces they expected to reclaim?
For the traders awaiting access to the new market, the immediate concern is whether the authorities can resolve the allocation dispute and protect existing businesses.
President Ruto commissioned the market on October 16 and directed County Commissioner Hassan Allasow Hussein to prioritise the 1,500 traders who were displaced during redevelopment. The remaining stalls are to be allocated through a balloting process.
Traders at Masinde Muliro Ultra-Modern Market in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County, during President William Ruto’s visit on January 17, 2024. The market was under construction.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya | Nation Media Group
He also instructed Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga to mobilise funds to complete outstanding works and announced Sh15 million in support for affected traders, translating to Sh10,000 for each beneficiary.
“I stepped in because the market had stalled for four years. I have instructed PS Hinga to source for money to complete the construction of the market so that we can settle the traders who were displaced and empower them to earn a living,” Dr Ruto said.
The President warned against attempts to sell stalls, insisting that displaced traders had been identified and should be given priority in the allocation process.
But some traders allege that the allocation process has been politicised, with people they consider outsiders benefiting at their expense. One trader alleged that some beneficiaries were non-Kenyans.
Ms Catherine Mbomere, who operated a stall in the area before the demolitions, said they had been promised they would return once construction was completed.
She said traders had received official allotment letters from the county government and wanted an explanation for how the new stalls had been distributed.
“I appeal to President Ruto to intervene and scrutinise the allocation process to establish how the stalls were distributed. People who are not part of the existing business community have taken over spaces that were previously occupied by local traders,” she said.
Chairman of Soko Mjinga Wholesale and Retail Market, Mr Solomon Wanyonyi, said traders had operated along the roadside for more than 15 years and expected the project to improve their working conditions.
“The developments have left us confused. We want the authorities to explain how the stalls were allocated and why traders who have operated in the area for more than 15 years have been left out,” he said.
Trans Nzoia business community leader Mr Stanley Mapesa has called for transparent criteria, publication of a comprehensive list of beneficiaries and investigations into reports that some stalls are being occupied or offered for sale to people whose eligibility is in question.
According to Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Trans Nzoia branch chairman Mr Titus Kilongi, uncertainty over stall allocation, ownership and revenue collection had heightened anxiety among traders.
“We cannot have two arms of government pulling in different directions,” he said, urging the President to consult the business community before making decisions affecting traders.
Masinde Muliro Bus Park in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County which was commissioned by President William Ruto on October 16, 2026.
Photo credit: Jared Nyataya | Nation Media Group
Also caught up in the dispute are Kitale Bus Park SACCO traders, who have raised concerns over 167 stalls, including 18 canteens. The group has cited a consent agreement recorded at the Environment and Land Court in Kitale on July 25, 2022, in Constitutional Petition No. 3 of 2022.
Beyond the allocation dispute lies a fierce contest over who deserves credit for the project and how much each level of government contributed.
Mr Natembeya maintains that the county government funded the bulk of the construction after inheriting the project from former governor Patrick Khaemba.
“The National Government has funded zero in this project, yet it wants to take credit,” he said.
Available county expenditure records indicate that more than Sh700 million had been spent by the 2021/2022 financial year, with the total investment subsequently estimated at approximately Sh840 million. The county also allocated Sh40 million towards finalising the market and settled electricity connection bills.
The National Government, however, maintains that its intervention was instrumental in completing the project after the initial phase stalled.
Gubernatorial aspirant and Kenya's Permanent Representative to UN-Habitat, Dr Susan Nakhumicha, has challenged the county to provide documentary evidence of its contribution.
She traced the project to 2018, arguing that the county received approximately Sh830 million under the World Bank-backed Kenya Urban Support Programme during Mr Khaemba's administration.
“The market was about 95 per cent complete when the programme's first phase ended. The President later committed Sh100 million towards completing it, while the county was expected to contribute Sh40 million,” she said.
Dr Nakhumicha maintained that the National Government subsequently undertook outstanding works through the relevant State Department.
The competing accounts raise questions about the respective contributions of the two levels of government, the status of the President's funding pledge and who will manage the facility, allocate stalls and collect revenue once it is fully operational.
The market dispute has become a flashpoint in the wider political confrontation between Dr Ruto and Mr Natembeya, with Kenya Kwanza leaders defending national government projects and accusing the governor of putting political rivalry ahead of development.
On Saturday, Kiminini MP Kakai Bisau attacked the governor over his criticism of the President during the burial of Kenya's first ambassador to the United States, the late Burudi Nabwera, in Sango, Kiminini Constituency.
“I will take you home next year. You cannot keep belittling and disrespecting the President. You have failed as a governor of this county,” Mr Bisau said.
Mr Natembeya responded that he would continue criticising the administration over what he considers failures to deliver development in the region.
“I am not going to conform anytime soon because I will continue to tell our people the truth. Development is not a favour; it is a right,” he said, accusing the National Government of taking political credit for the market.
Dr Nakhumicha and Trans Nzoia Woman Representative Lilian Siyoi also defended the President's development record, citing investments in healthcare, roads, housing, education and electricity connectivity.
Dr Nakhumicha pointed to the President's Sh320 million commitment to Endebess Mother and Child Hospital, plans for a Sh1 billion referral hospital, an affordable housing project valued at approximately Sh2.5 billion and a completed tuition block at the Kenya Medical Training College in Kitale.
Ms Siyoi cited the Sh1.6 billion Saboti-Gitwamba Road, the Sh1.1 billion Matumbei Road and funding to connect 352 households in Kiminini and Cherang'any to electricity.
“It is premature for anyone to dismiss these projects before implementation is complete,” she said.
Dr Nakhumicha said political differences should not prevent residents from benefiting from national government programmes.
Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya during the burial of Burudi Nabwera in Kiminini on October 24, 2026.
Photo credit: Evans Jaola | Nation Media Group
“We are not asking Governor Natembeya to support William Ruto as an individual or to abandon his political interests. Our appeal is that political differences should not prevent the people of Trans Nzoia from benefiting from national government programmes,” she said.
Opposition politicians, including Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and allies in the Linda Mwananchi movement, have backed Mr Natembeya's position that the county's contribution to the market should be recognised.
Residents demand development
The political debate comes as residents of Kwanza Constituency petition the President to address what they describe as years of neglect after he skipped the area during his recent tour of Trans Nzoia.
Led by Kwanza Development Forum chairman Edward Ayuya, secretary Ezekiel Rono and Organising Secretary Phillip Lelmash, the residents cited inadequate health facilities, unemployment, poor school infrastructure, limited access to clean water and a lack of housing.
They want the government to complete Kwanza Sub-County Hospital, tarmac the Kwanza-Kamboi road and establish the constituency's first technical and vocational education and training institution.
