Bevalyne Kwamboka preparing chips in Kware, Embakasi South. [Courtesy]

Bevalyne Kwamboka, the chips vendor in Kware, Embakasi South, whose tweets have gone viral in recent days has appealed to the government not to evict her from her current location.

The fourth-year student at Kenyatta University said the chips business sustains her and is her only source of livelihood.

“At the moment I do not have a permanent structure…I usually do my business, clean up the place and go home. What I can tell KeNHA is that as much as I sell chips here, I have not affected anything.

“I have even placed an iron sheet even to prevent smoke from destroying the footbridge. This (referring to the business) is my mother, this is my father, this is my husband, this is my employment," she stated.

Adding: "If I stop this business, I will defer my university education and go back to my rural home…that will be the end of me, I will have to shift from Nairobi." 

This comes just hours after Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) labeled the business as ‘illegal and an infringement to pedestrian rights.’

It all started when one netizen tagged the authority on a tweet where Bevalyne was seen preparing fries.

“KURA are these activities legal?” he asked. To which KURA responded: “This is illegal and an infringement to pedestrian rights…The footbridges and walkways are meant for Pedestrian passage and not any form of business.”

This, however, did not go down well with a section of Kenyans online who asked KURA to focus on more pressing issues instead of going after a woman who is trying to make ends meet.

Bevalyne vs Millicent Omanga

While setting the record straight regarding the donation she received from Nominated Senator Millicent Omanga, Bevalyne stated that she did not receive any cash from the politician, contrary to a tweet that claimed she did.

“They bought a bucket of potatoes worth Sh350, gave me some umbrellas, aprons and reflector jackets…they then took photos holding a sack of potatoes that I had bought.

“There was a commotion here after Omanga posted on Twitter that she had given me merchandise and cash. I sent his PA a message asking about the cash donation but he clarified that they had used it to buy the bucket of potatoes,” she said.