A row is brewing between Thika leaders and Kiambu Governor Kimani Wamatangi over the failure to resettle hawkers who were kicked out of the Thika Central Business District months ago.
Led by Thika Town MP Alice Ng’ang’a and MCA Kennedy Mwangi they have given Wamatang’i two weeks to find alternative areas for the traders or allowed them back to the CBD.
During a bursary issuing ceremony in Thika, the MP told the governor to honour his promise and settle the hawkers adding that buying time was causing tension.
“The more the governor buys time, the more the hawkers will feel aggrieved and this will cause unnecessary tension and grudges. Let him honour his promise and look for alternative space for them to trade during the day,” the MP said.
When chasing them out of the CBD, Wamatangi said it will bring order and discipline to the town that he is lobbying for it to be elevated into a city.
He said shop traders had complained that hawkers out-competed them despite them having to pay the licences and other requirements for running a business.
They were only allowed to hawk in the streets from 6.30 pm, as the county government looked for alternative space to settle them.
John Mwangi, Thika Township MCA said almost eight months later, nothing is forthcoming and the hawkers were running out of patience.
He wondered why such restrictions on operating during stipulated time only applied to hawkers from Thika town.
“In other towns like Kiambu, Githurai, Ruiru, Limuru, hawkers run their business any time of the day. Why did the governor put restrictions to those in Thika? My people are running out of patience and if the governor does not act fast, they will return to the CBD,” Mwangi said.
He said Thika contributes the highest revenue to Kiambu county so traders should not be frustrated.
Hawkers interviewed decried the harsh conditions that they work under at night, in the poorly lit streets.
They added that some had given up due to the reduced returns in sales due to operating at night when most of their customers have already gone home.
They also complained of harassment by county askaris who confiscate their wares once they are found operating before the stipulated time.
“The governor should review the operating hours to around 3 pm else he allocates us a place to be selling from failure to which we shall return to the CBD as early as 7 am,” Mwangi Kimani, a hawker said.
