Traders at a Naivasha open-air market have vowed not to pay fees to the county government following encroachment on their businesses by hawkers.
They made the resolution after clashing with hawkers operating outside the market.
The traders, who own stalls at the market, said the group operating outside had denied them customers and as a result they were not making enough profit to pay daily market fees.
Illegal business
According to the chairperson of the traders Alice Wangui, the area has seen an influx of hawkers from Nairobi and Nakuru, who are now selling clothes on the roadside, a move she termed as illegal.
Wangui said despite paying market levies and reporting about the illegal traders, the county government had failed to protect them.
“No customer comes inside the market since what we sell can be found on the roadside and we will not pay any rates to the county until this problem is resolved,” she said.
