Trolley pushers are a common sight in Nairobi CBD where they offer transport services to Kenyans carrying heavy goods.
More often than not they will be the ones approaching potential customers by offering to push goods from one point to another at cheap prices.
However, these generous business people have come up with new methods of stealing from their unsuspecting customers.
Once a customer accepts to have their goods carried, the pusher initially seems genuine until they reach a point where its too busy, or there is heavy traffic.
While they both try to maneuver the busy streets of CBD, the pusher then uses avenues in which the customer will for a moment lose sight of him/her like behind a car or between traffic.
Within a few seconds, the pusher disappears into an alley with the customer's goods. The trolley pushers also work with thieves disguising as normal citizens going about their business in the CBD.
By the time the customer realises they cannot spot the transporter, they (the trolley pusher) have already set down the goods in an alley in town and already started looking for new clients.
Some even offer to help travelers carry the goods on their backs but disappear into the busy streets while the customer tries to locate them.
"I lost goods worth Ksh11,400 after I trusted a trolley pusher with them. He told me he would charge me Ksh20 for the services. He really insisted on carrying the goods for me so I gave in.
"We have complained to the police but they say those cases are rampant in the city," said one businessman, David Kaveseli, who fell victim to the thieves.
Some Kenyans are however very skeptical of the pushers' motives and keep close distances with them to ensure their goods reach the desired location safely.
