Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has condemned how City askaris manhandled street vendors on Wednesday and confiscated their tools of trade.
The governor said in a statement the incident was "most unfortunate".
"This is not the way to treat Nairobians as we have continually implored our officers to treat Nairobians with Dignity," he said via his X handle.
The governor said his administration has had a cordial relationship with informal traders for a year but lately, there have been unfortunate incidences that seek to sabotage that.
"We will take disciplinary action," he warned.
"I have ordered the immediate release of all confiscated items, apologised to the traders and personally compensated each of them to the tune of 10,000 shillings each," he said.
The governor said the traders did not deserve to be treated the way they were treated even if they were found operating without the required documentation, including a Medical Certificate from Public Health required of anyone handling food.
"They did not deserve such treatment and we are dealing with this internally. Poleni sana," he said.
His statement came after one issued by the chair of the Presidential Council of Economic Advisors David Ndii who faulted Sakaja for backtracking on his pre-campaign pledge and flashing hawkers out of the CBD.
City Hall askaris on Wednesday descended on street vendors who ply their trade by selling street food and seized their tools of trade, spilling some in the process.
Ndii took issue with the development saying it's the exact opposite of the platform on which Sakaja and Deputy Governor James Muchiri campaigned.
"The Nairobi County leadership is not hustler-friendly. That's why I keep prodding Sakaja on it. Sakaja runs on an “order” platform. He planned to put hustlers in markets," Ndii said.
"Street vendors are on streets because that's where customers are."
In a statement on his X handle, Ndii attached the duo's campaign poster in which the construction of 20 markets for city traders was part of their pre-campaign promises.
In the pledges dubbed "A city of order and dignity", Sakaja and Muchiri said they would also provide city residents with affordable and decent housing, clean and safe water, Sh50 million Biashara Fund per ward, ensure zero tolerance to corruption and a clean and green Nairobi.
A clean city remains perhaps the most outstanding campaign promise that the Sakaja administration has delivered as City Hall has deployed hundreds of 'Green Army' youth to clean city streets and unclog drainages in Nairobi and its outskirts.
Sakaja is currently in France where he is representing President William Ruto at the two-day global school feeding coalition meeting in Paris.
The summit started on October 18 when Sakaja was scheduled to attend the high-level School Meals Coalition opening ceremony.
French President Emmanuel Macron had invited President William Ruto as well as Sakaja to grace the event but Head of Public Service Felix Koskei said the President has other engagements.
"Due to prior official commitments, His Excellency the President will be unable to attend this meeting. In this regard, the President has requested that you represent him at this meeting given that you have been invited as well," reads the letter addressed to Sakaja on October 5, 2023.
Sakaja is the brainchild of the 'Dishi na County’ school feeding programme which he launched on August 2023.
He is expected to speak extensively about the programme during the summit.