Nairobi County Chief Officer for Environment, Geoffrey Mosiria, has issued a stern warning to hawkers who exploit others by taking extra spaces, stressing that the county government will soon come after them.
In a statement on Saturday, July 13, Mosiria said that he will have an engagement with the Nairobi County Governor, Johnson Sakaja, to kickstart a crackdown to weed out such hawkers, whom he labelled as the 'big fishes'.
Mosiria, who had an engagement with hawkers who complained of not having spaces in the designated backlane areas, claimed that the county government will also take action against individuals who are exploiting hawkers by charging them fees for spaces, which are meant to be free of charge.
"I will take it personally and get in touch with the head of markets and ensure that every one of you gets a space. Some people are taking advantage of people by asking them to pay for species, yet the governor gave the spaces for free," Mosiria said.
In a notice on January 6, 2025, the Nairobi County government directed all hawkers to vacate the city's main streets and transition to the backstreets of the city, in a bid to elevate the cleanliness of the city. According to the county, legal action would be taken against any hawkers found contravening such an order.
The directive meant that no hawker would be allowed to hawk in the City's main streets, such as Moi Avenue, Haile Selassie Avenue, Kenneth Matiba Road, Latema Road, Ronald Ngala Street, Mfangano Street, Hakati Road, and River Road.
However, despite this order, the hawkers have recurrently complained of the lack of trading spaces in the backstreets. Acknowledging this concern, Mosiria affirmed that the county government is in the process of establishing more markets for hawkers to ensure that they have sufficient spaces for trading their items.
"There is a need to create more space to ensure that every hawker gets his/her own space. We also want to map out and ensure that every hawker is one and not one who has employed many, and I will ensure to talk to the governor to deal with them," he said.
Last month, on Wednesday, June 18, Mosiria revealed that his department had kickstarted a crackdown on tea and coffee hawkers who are using disposable cups and single-use plastic bags to sell their products, whom he claimed were using plastic bags and cups that ended up creating an unsightly environment.
Additionally, Mosiria claimed that the county will also track down and take legal action against individuals who supply the plastic cups and bags to hawkers.
"We have noted with great concern the rapid increase of tea and coffee hawkers in the CBD who are using disposable cups and single-use plastic bags. Most of them do not carry litter bins to manage waste after their customers consume their products," Mosiria said.
"As a result, this waste is being dumped all over the CBD and eventually ends up in our drainage systems during rains, contributing to flooding in the city," he added.
