Car boot traders near Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club along the Northern Bypass have appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to stop their eviction by the Nairobi government.
The traders, most of them rendered jobless since mid-March when a Covid-19 associated curfew was declared, have enjoyed good business, selling fresh farm produce to motorists.
City Hall has given them notice to quit before next Wednesday "with no explanation or reason".
Some of the car boot traders were company employees, others deejays and event organisers until the curfew was declared and the Ministry of Health's directive on social distancing shut them out of employment.
Beatrice Wanjiru says she is the sole breadwinner in her home and has no other source of income. She has two children in secondary school.
“I do not have any other source of income and when the county government removes us from here it will be injurious to me," Wanjiru said.
Deejay MC Kajogoo lost his job after night clubs were closed. He then decided to sell chicken and rice for a living.
“We are trying to make ends meet since we lost our jobs from where we previously worked. But now, when we are trying to fend for ourselves lawfully someone somewhere in authority evicts us,” Kajogoo lamented.
Charles Gachara, an events organiser, has been selling cowpeas at the venue as there are no events to attend to.
The young said he had to find lawful ways of earning a living. Now his efforts are being frustrated.
“Since we started selling at the bypass no city county officer has ever come to remove us or even ask for operating licences. We have been living in peace.
"Now they want us to leave forcefully with no explanation. Why do authorities have to demoralise hardworking Kenyans? They could have asked us to pay licences so that the county gains revenue rather than evicting us,” Gachara said.
John Waweru is an avocado seller. He said they maintain and adhere to Ministry of Health directives on Covid-19. They neither harass motorists nor litter their area of operation, he said.
“... all other bypasses you find people selling produce from their vehicles. It is only here at the Northern Bypass we are being harassed for no reason. We are responsible Kenyans and abide by the law,” Waweru said.
The traders want to be allowed to continue selling until the Covid-19 ends and they return to their jobs. They say they keep social distance, wear face masks and sanitise every time after interacting with customers.
- mwaniki fm
