THE STORY BEHIND MOMBASA’S MARIKITI The stench hits you like a sledgehammer, suffocating. The Mombasa heat does not help matters either. The garbage pile-up on the rear entrance of MacKinnon market, known to many as Marikiti Market, could deceive many on the flourishing businesses to be found inside. An eye-sore, the wrongly placed dumpsite, which seems to grow by the day, has a tendency to divert one’s attention from the main building that gave rise to the sprawling open-air market that completes the Marikiti area. Marikiti, a name coined from the word market, is the most visible market in Mombasa County. History Located on the busy Digo Road, just before the iconic Barclays Bank roundabout that connects Kenyatta Avenue with Digo Road, the building, from the front view, has retained the same structural look it had since its construction even though it has lost its colour, and original lustre. Opened in 1914, MacKinnon Market has passed through the test of time. Upon request at the market manager’s office located in the building, any visitor will be shown photographs taken by one Salim M Nasher of how the building looked when it was new. With its archaic walls and iron-rail windows, the finishing and outside look was done to make it stand out in a location that had Swahili form of finishing in most homes. A mast inside the building has a plaque that traces much of the building materials from Bristol, in the United Kingdom. According to a trader who has been operating at the market since 1960s, the building and its surroundings was more organised and beautiful than it is currently. But with the discolouration today due to dust, posters and lack of a facelift and a leaky roof, the building was clearly not constructed with an expanding population in mind as it is smaller compared to many other markets.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 12:21:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015