Gatunga ESP Market To Boost Local Economy
Gatunga ESP Market is set to transform business in Tharaka Nithi County, opening a new window of opportunity for farmers and traders.
The newly built Gatunga ESP Market in Gatunga is expected to boost trade and stimulate economic growth in Tharaka Nithi County.
The first of its kind in Tharaka Constituency, Gatunga ESP Market is one of the 400 modern markets that the government is building across the country as part of the broader economic revival strategy.
Through the Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), President William Ruto’s administration is rolling out more than 400 modern markets across the country. The projects are implemented and supervised by the State Department of Housing and Urban Development.
According to the latest report, Gatunga ESP Market which comprises the main market block and supporting facilities such as the public washroom, ablution block, steel water tank, waste cubicle, septic tank and play area are 99 percent complete.
Apart from providing small scale traders, vegetable vendors (Mama Mboga) and grocery sellers an ample space and dignified environment to do their business, Gatunga ESP Market also opened job opportunities for local youth.
At the peak of construction, more than 200 people were hired from the surrounding community as skilled and unskilled labourers. The project started on August 28, 2024 and was completed on May 22, 2026.
In an interview, Gatunga Market Chairman Paul Muriungi narrated the challenges traders go through while conducting their business in the open air, citing scorching heat from the sun, rain and win as some of the difficulties they endure.
Noting that Gatunga has never had a market before, Muriungi heaped praise on President Ruto for honouring his campaign pledge when he visited the region in 2022.
“Many of us have been operating in the open and now we are preparing to move in, we have organized ourselves very well,” said Muriungi. “The days of working under the sun are over, we will never be rained on again and our business will grow,” he stated.
He said that vegetables, groceries and cereals will be on the ground floor while clothes, eateries and cyber cafes will be on the first floor.
“We are very happy because this market is going to change our lives because we have been using sticks and wood to build our individual stalls and sometimes they are demolished but the government has built using concrete and steel which are durable and long lasting,” he added.
Citing the high number of traders in the area and the big population of customers and the existing business potential, Muriungi called on the government to consider expanding the Gatunga ESP Market in the future.
He said many traders might be locked out. “We have traders selling second hand clothes, shoes and many other items and they all want space here so some will be left out,” he said.
Mr Benson Rangira, the foreman at the site, says that the people are elated by the construction and completion of the project. “People are very happy with this project and they long for the day they will be allowed in,” he said.
He said that the project is going to boost the local economy, noting that already it has created employment for about two hundred people who have been working as skilled and unskilled labourers.
“With such a big market, transporters like the Boda Boda operators will get business and the traders will get a dignified place to do their business,” he said.
The market is equipped with cold rooms for storage of perishable goods like vegetables and groceries and a dry room for cereals. “Things like tomatoes will be stored in the cold room, this will protect traders from losses,” he said.
Gatunga ESP Market is also equipped with an ICT hub to enhance e-commerce, a spacious social hall for meetings and other group events, sanitation facilities and public washrooms, a room for lactating mothers to breastfeed their babies and children’s playing ground.
