Politics and policy
A hawker selling clothes on Kimathi Lane on May 29, 2015. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
By KIARIE NJOROGE
In Summary
- Hawkers asked to re-apply for licences manually.
- Hawking within the CBD illegal and only newspaper vendors and shoe shiners are allowed to operate on the streets.
City Hall has cancelled all hawkers’ licences after
an unspecified number of permits were issued "fraudulently" on its
online system allowing the traders to operate in the central business
district.
The county has asked the hawkers to manually re-apply for
the licences as it announced that residents found buying their goods in
undesignated areas risk arrest and a Sh200 fine.
“There has been a fraudulent issuance of electronic
licences from our system. Those licences now stand revoked,” said
Nairobi County Trade executive Anna Othoro on Friday.
She added that hawking within the CBD is illegal
and only newspaper vendors and shoe shiners are allowed to operate on
the streets.
In recent times, there has been a large influx of hawkers in the streets of Nairobi especially to the east of Tom Mboya Street.
Some of the traders who acquired the licences have
obtained court injunctions stopping City Hall from evicting them from
the CBD.
Ms Othoro said that it is wrong to sell clothes and shoes outside premises that stock similar items and pay rent.
The county will however continue to allow a vetted
group of hawkers to sell their wares on the parking stretch outside Gill
House on weekends only.
The directive could set off a fresh round of
confrontations between the hawkers and the county askaris. Previous
conflicts between the two groups have sometimes turned violent with
several hawkers losing their lives.
No comments :
Post a Comment