Nairobi, Kenya: A historic case filed by hawkers against police and county council askaris might be the tipping point on how the city responds to the hawkers menace.
The case, that will be heard today at the Constitutional and Human Rights Division in the High Court, Nairobi, has 34 petitioners while the county Inspectorate Directorate, the governor, the Attorney General and the Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission are the respondents.
Court documents in our possession paint a David verses Goliath scenario as the mainly youthful hawkers, majority aged below 30 years, seek the court's protection from county council askaris and police who they accuse of constantly engaging them in brutal street battles using batons, guns, knives, machetes and other dangerous weapons.
In his affidavit, Nairobi Small Scale Traders Association Chairman, David Kaweru, says these running battles have resulted in hawker's getting killed and others sustain fatal injuries.
One petitioner, Mary Mwende, has alleged that her husband, Harron Ngugi, died after he was stabbed severally by council askaris.
THE DEMANDS
Mwende said her husband was attacked on October 9 by askaris Akasi Ambani or Wasi Wasi), Alfred Malenya alias Brown and a Mr Salala while selling his wares in Ngara.
Ngugi was rushed to Guru Nanak Hospital then transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Mwende says the incident was reported at Pangani Police Station but no action has been taken.
Another petitioner, Anthony Kangara, said he was shot on June 13, 2013 and the bullet caused him serious injuries that led to total loss of his eyes.
In the case, filed by lawyer Ishmael Nyaribo, the hawkers operating in Nairobi and its environs are seeking orders to have the Inspector General of Police compelled to provide them with security at a fee and be issued with P-3 forms to prove their cases as assault victims.
They want the respondents to hold an identification parade of the Inspectorate askaris and have them and police barred from "harassing, arresting, threatening with arrest or evictions" from the city and its environs.
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