It was business as usual on sections of Haile Selassie Avenue as hawkers sold their wares despite the heavy presence of police officers and county askaris.
They insisted that they were not going to leave because they did not have anywhere else to sell their wares.
Mary Wanjiku, from Githurai 44, said she and her colleagues would stay put on the streets because that is where they earned their living and fed their children.
“When I left home I told my children that I was going to work. If I go home empty-handed, what am I going to tell them?” Wanjiku asked.
She said hawkers would not protest at the brutality of the police and the county askaris because there was no one to defend them.
“This has become our way of life. When we see them, we run away, and life continues. We will not protest because it will not help us. If we say that we wait to be shown a market where we can sell, we may wait forever. We have responsibilities as parents and bread winners,” Wanjiku said.
It was a cat-and-mouse game between hawkers and the police on Sunday as the officers carried out a sting operation to flush them out of the central business district. The police used teargas to disperse the crowd as hawkersprotested at what they termed police harassment.
APs involved too
Jackline Ouma, a trader at Wakulima Market, said that even Administration Police offers were involved and had been harassing them for selling their wares on the road.
Ouma, who sells oranges, said that it was usually the county askaris that came to interfere with their business and that hawkers normally have a 'special arrangement' with them.
“The arrangement is that when the county officers come, we form groups of two or three people and we give them Sh100 or Sh200 and they leave, but today the police came, and they did not demand anything from us. They just started mishandling people and carrying away their wares,” Ouma said.
On Sunday, police were patrolling on a lorry, looking for hawkers to arrest. Their first stop was at Muthurwa Market on Landhies Road, where they took away goods in sacks. Among those who were arrested were a woman carrying her three-month-old baby. The woman, who was selling oranges, was caught unawares by the police outside Wakulima Market. The officers showed her no mercy, her wares bundled up and she and her baby harassed and thrown into the vehicle.
Other hawkers condemned the action, pleading with the officers to be lenient to those with children.
The youth who also sell oranges outside the market complained y that they were not being given the opportunity to work and fend for themselves in a legal and decent way.
Cry of the youth
Cosmas Mwanzia, a former street boy, sells fruits outside Wakulima Market. He accused Governor Mike Sonko of turning a blind eye to the situation of hawkers.
“I cannot mug people because it is wrong. If I spread my wares down here to sell, it is also wrong. What are we supposed to do?” asked Mwanzia.
Another hawker, Hilda Nekoye, however applauded the police.
She said it was fair that the officers chased away everyone and did not favour anyone.
janyango@standardmedia.co.ke
