Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja on Thursday came to the defence of street photographers operating in the Central Business District (CBD) walkways.
When replying to a concerned Kenyan who requested the county chief to rid the streets off photographers, Sakaja stated, “They are earning a proper living. Let the photographers be.”
In a bid to clarify the issue to the governor, another X user responded to him writing, “He is saying lets have some order please. Imagine if all of us decided to show up with cameras in the CBD??”
Undeterred, Sakaja hit back affirming that not every Nairobi resident owned a camera, “All of you don't have cameras.”
However, several other Kenyans continued to expound on why they believed moderation of the photographers occupying side walks in Nairobi was vital.
“It will get to a day when you will ask them to leave CBD. Right now there are no walkways as photographers have claimed those areas,” one said. “No doubt they are earning a living, but this is a city some order would do. What about setting a specific place for this trade ?” Another one echoed.
As the debate raged, several other Kenyans seized the opportunity to raise their own concerns on other problems they wanted the governor to address. Several urged him to install more dustbins in the CBD while few others inevitably asked the governor to limit hawkers in the CBD.
Early last year, Sakaja gave the greenlight to content creators and photographers to use certain streets in Nairobi’s CBD to shoot their content. He has consistently mentioned that legalising content creators and photographers in the city’s CBD was a way to empower Kenyan youth looking to make money in legal ways by utilising their talents.
The post that provided this avenue to field questions to the governor was a clarification on the availability of Uhuru Park for Kenyans to hold a parallel Mashujaa Day celebration led by comedian-turned-activist Eric Omondi.
“Uhuru Park has been OPEN and remains OPEN to the public EVERY DAY. Every Kenyan is allowed to come and is welcome to enjoy their Park. You can also book for events. A public park is, however, NOT available to be RESERVED for exclusive use during a PUBLIC HOLIDAY. Other Kenyans will also want to enjoy. It can be reserved on any other day,” Sakaja wrote.
He ended the post by telling the Kenyans that they can visit one by one and fill the park but there was no need to request permission for that.
However, defiant Kenyans who wanted to attend the celebration were not satisfied with the explanation, noting that their aim was to honour protestors who died in June Gen Z protests.
One Kenyan noted that since Mashujaa day falls on a Sunday, there was a need to declare Monday a public holiday since Sunday is a weekend.
“Where, in any year, a day in Part I of the Schedule falls on a Sunday, then the first succeeding day, not being a public holiday, shall be a public holiday and the first-mentioned day shall cease to be a public holiday,” The Public Holidays Act reads.
