This is why Nairobi hawkers flee from city county askaris

City council askaris collect the clothes of a hawker who was allegedly shot on the head and killed by a policeman while busy selling his clothes near Khoja Mosque, Nairobi. Mr Peter Maina was a hawker and a part-time preacher in Nairobi. (PHOTO: MBUGUA KIBERA/ STANDARD)

It is Thursday evening. The time is 4:13pm. This writer is walking into a supermarket outlet along Moi Avenue in Nairobi.

Suddenly, a stampede ensues. Hawkers (as we refer to informal traders) run off in all directions clinging onto their wares.