Nairobi's city authorities are grappling with a new, theatrical challenge from hawkers determined to circumvent operational rules in the Central Business District.
Geoffrey Mosiria, the Nairobi County Chief Officer for Environment, has revealed a shift in tactics, describing hawkers' latest method as a calculated strategy to exploit public sympathy.
According to Mosiria, these vendors have mastered the art of "stirring drama" when confronted, and then using the resulting spectacle to their advantage. This ploy, he says, allows the hawkers to continue selling their wares on city pavements, brazenly flouting county regulations and posing an ongoing enforcement dilemma for the city officials.
The Chief Officer referenced a clip which he posted on his TikTok page where he had sought to evict some hawkers from the city pavements. In the clip, Mosiria is seen urging the hawkers to wrap up their wares and head to their designated areas in the city, emphasising the need to not cause trouble.
However, the hawkers could be seen reacting aggressively, which attracted the attention of passers-by going about their business in the capital. According to Mosira, this was an attempt to provoke him into losing his temper and reacting in a way that would make it seem like he was harassing them.
“When you try to engage them politely and with understanding, some of these hawkers will shout, insult you, and create a public scene not because they’re being mistreated, but to appear as victims and gain public sympathy. This kind of manipulation makes it extremely difficult for officers to enforce the law and restore order,” Mosiria stated.
Further detailing the tactics put in place by the hawkers, Mosiria disclosed that the hawkers also bring up the ‘poverty card’ to justify their unlawful acts and continue selling in undesignated areas.
In the clip, the hawkers could be heard lamenting about how the county was stifling their efforts to earn an income by removing them from the city’s pavements, despite it violating the law.
“Let us stop using the poverty card to justify lawlessness. Poverty is not a license to break the law or deny others their right to do business peacefully. We must draw the line between genuine need and deliberate defiance of the law,” he urged the hawkers in his statement.
The Chief Officer stated that the actions of the hawkers came at a cost to legitimate shop owners in the CBD who had acquired the proper certification and documentation to conduct business.
According to Mosiria, shop owners in the CBD have suffered in silence by the hawkers feeling entitled to occupy pavements and block walkways. They pay rent, business permits and taxes, only to have their shopfronts blocked by hawkers selling the same products at lower prices to divert customers.
Mosiria’s sentiments came just a month after the Nairobi City County announced intentions to completely ban hawkers from the CBD. The announcement was communicated by Mosiria, after a trip to India.
The Chief Officer said the hawkers will be made to operate in designated areas during specific times. Earlier this year, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja had issued a ban on hawkers in the city, restricting them to backstreets and lanes, away from city walkways, from Monday to Saturday from 4pm to 10pm.
