A photo of a man selling unique footballs on the streets of Nairobi caught the interest of Kenyans after he was allegedly detained by City County Officers for hawking illegally.
The news of the arrest worried Kenyans and triggered a conversation on the disruption of small business activities by County officers.
The hawker who has found an artistic way of recycling paper bags into fancy footballs, attracted sympathy from Kenyans. The case is, however, not unique as many hawkers know what it feels like to be arrested by County askaris.
Most Nairobi hawkers often spend their day running from the Nairobi County Officials, in an attempt to escape exaction, secure their merchandise, avoid harassment, and to save their lives. Hawkers have no shops, licenses to run business, and permits which cause the strife.
A well-wisher on who had seen the photo even promised t bail the ball maker out after news of his arrest broke the internet.
“I’m looking for this guy, I want to set a decent place for him to continue this creative venture, wasisumbuane na kanjo. Kindly help me link up with him,” said Rodgers Kipembe on Twitter.
Nairobi City County Pop Up markets and Street Vendors Bill of 2019 and the Senate Hawkers Bill of 2019 seek to standardize hawkers' operations. The bills will ensure that the hawkers are registered, pay permits, and are provided with appropriate times and spaces to operate in.
Unfortunately, they have not been actualized as required.
