The Nairobi County Government has announced firm action following the assault of a female county enforcement officer by a hawker.
Nairobi County’s Chief Officer for Environment, Geoffrey Mosiria, revealed there would be a review of enforcement protocols after a lady askari was left bloodied after her encounter with a trader at the heart of the Nairobi CBD.
Mosiria, on Tuesday evening, also issued a stern warning as he revealed details of the assault, which he termed as unfortunate and "an act of impunity".
According to the chief officer, the lady askari was attacked when she tried to enforce the law by asking a hawker to vacate a public walkway to allow for the free movement of pedestrians.
The County’s Chief Officer for Environment confirmed that investigations were underway to identify and prosecute those responsible.
"This is an act of impunity of the highest order, and we will not allow it to go unpunished. We will not be cowed. Order must be maintained, and the rule of law must prevail," Mosiria said in a statement.
He further reiterated Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja's directives at the start of the year, which effectively outlawed hawking along pedestrian walkways. Sakaja specifically listed Moi Avenue, Haile Selassie Avenue, Kenneth Matiba Road, Latema Road, Ronald Ngala Street, Mfangano Street, Hakati Road, and River Road as areas that are off-limits to hawkers.
While the Nairobi County government directed hawkers to specific areas within the CBD, Mosiria now claims some unscrupulous traders were taking advantage of the directives.
"Hawkers in Nairobi do not pay any fees to the county government. In good faith, His Excellency the Governor has allowed them to operate from designated back lanes to promote inclusive economic opportunity. However, some are now abusing this privilege by encroaching on walkways, blocking pedestrians, and worse, resorting to violence when asked to comply with the law," Mosiria observed.
While vowing to deal with the perpetrators decisively, Mosiria emphasised that 'any attack on one county officer is an attack on the entire county staff fraternity'.
Notably, the environment chief officer has been at the heart of measures aimed at boosting Nairobi's image, with his modus operandi mainly entailing documenting his activities on social media.
The issue of hawkers in the Nairobi CBD has proven to be an uphill battle for Mosiria, with the latest incident occurring just days after he exposed how several Nairobi hawkers were using public toilets at Green Park in Nairobi to store their goods.
During the ‘raid’, Mosiria ordered the arrest of several hawkers who had stored their goods, as well as the arrest of proprietors of the public toilets, in what seemed to be a well-coordinated agreement between the hawkers and toilet proprietors.
