This archive report was first published on 23 July 2019.
On Tuesday afternoon, a tense standoff unfolded at Nairobi's City Market as meat hawkers clashed with county askaris who were attempting to evict them from the premises. The hawkers resisted the eviction, citing a recent directive by Governor Mike Sonko that allowed them to sell their products at the market.
According to the hawkers, Sonko's decision to permit them to operate at the market had been met with fierce criticism from stall owners, who claimed they had been disenfranchised. The hawkers questioned the motive behind their ejection, with one hawker saying, "The Governor himself said we do business here, why are they evicting us?"
City Hall Operations Director Eva Wairiuko defended the eviction, stating that the county askaris were acting on Sonko's orders to remove the hawkers due to public health concerns. The operation came just a month after the hawkers and traders clashed over market space, with traders announcing an indefinite shutdown of their premises to protest the invasion of their space by hawkers.
Stall owners accused the hawkers of spreading their goods in front of their premises, obstructing access by their customers and subjecting their businesses to unfair competition. The hawkers, who pay Sh50 daily to the County government, claimed they were operating legally and had the necessary licenses.
However, City Hall cited numerous complaints from members of the public regarding the safety of the meat sold by the hawkers, including the lack of requisite medical permits and the sale of uninspected meat. The concerns came against the backdrop of reports of unregulated use of preservatives such as sodium metabisulphite to elongate the shelf life of meat products.
