Nakuru County Governor Kinuthia faces wrath of hawkers over pre-election deal

By Karanja Njoroge and Mercy Kahenda

A secret Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua and hawkers in the town at the height of the last elections has come back to haunt him.

While campaigning for the seat, expectations were high that Mbugua would address the hawkers’ menace in the town once and for all.

However, Mbugua had allegedly entered a deal with hawkers during campaigns promising to protect their interests once in power to reportedly win their votes.

This has been the controversy surrounding eviction of hawkers who have taken over the town streets becoming an eyesore to visitors, investors and residents. The MoU, which surfaced when the governor tried to evict the hawkers three weeks ago has forced the county government to go slow on the matter.

In the MoU, which The Standard on Sunday has a copy and signed by Mbugua on October 19 last year, and witnessed by seven other people, the governor, among other issues promises to protect hawkers from undue harassment.

“I shall undertake inclusive policy making and implementation systems involving street vendors marketers, hawkers, artisans and other informal traders,” the document stated.

When he attempted to evict them from the streets in April this year the governor was promptly reminded of the agreement. And fearing a political backlash he was forced to beat a hasty retreat after local leaders including Nakuru Town East MP David Gikaria and Biashara Ward Representative Stephen Kuria sided with the hawkers.

A former MP David Manyara was a darling of the street traders and found himself in Parliament for relentlessly fighting against their harassment.

Voting block

Numbering thousands, the hawkers in the town have emerged to be a critical voting block and most politicians in the town are wary of antagonising them.

They turn up in large numbers and speak in one voice during elections as compared to the middle class who feign indifference in the electoral process.

Aspiring politicians in the town regard the hawkers’ issue as a hot political potato, which can spell the death knell or propel them to power.

In the wake of the 2006 Nakuru Town Parliamentary seat by-election occasioned by the death of former MP Murigu Kariuki, one of the candidates blew up his chances of clinching the seat after he promised to rid the busy Kenyatta Avenue of the hawkers’ menace. “He stated that the streets would be so clear of hawkers that one would be able to have a clear view of the end of Kenyatta Avenue while standing at the KFA round about,” recalls Beth Wangari, a resident.  Considered one of the leading candidates to succeed Mirugi his electrifying campaign fizzled out after he was branded an enemy of the hawkers and a project of the town’s tycoons.

The chaotic streets amid the cacophony have turned Nakuru town, once East Africa cleanest town, into a pale shadow of its former self.  It is a delicate act as residents hop and skip to avoid stepping into the wares displayed by hawkers who have swarmed the town’s  streets.

“We told them in no uncertain terms that if they were to get our votes they should promise protect us from harassment by the Council,” said Moses Muigai who displays his wares near Maya Emporium. According to the hawkers the Governor promised to respect their requirements and improve on their working conditions on ground that the sector is critical in the fight against poverty levels.  “Under my leadership there will be no arbitrary eviction of informal traders without first providing an agreeable alternative in compliance with  decent work agenda  of the International Labour Organisation (ILO),”  the document stated.