This archive report was first published on 26 August 2019.
On August 26, 2019, a heated debate erupted in Gilgil town over the punitive fines slapped on petty offenders. Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika and Gilgil MP Martha Wangari condemned the hefty fines, stating that they were a major contributor to the congestion in the country's penal institutions.
The two legislators were speaking during a fundraiser to help pay the fines for over 40 hawkers who were incarcerated in Naivasha prison after failing to raise Sh40, 000. The hawkers, including women, were arrested last week at the Gilgil weighbridge for hawking and pleaded guilty to the charges.
Wangari blamed Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) for the predicaments faced by the hawkers, stating that they were not consulted as leaders. She claimed that KeNHA used force to evict the hawkers, who were selling their products at the weighbridge without interfering with traffic.
‘We were not consulted as leaders but KeNHA decided to use police to not only arrest the innocent hawkers but to burn their properties in broad daylight,’ Wangari said.
Kihika echoed Wangari's sentiments, stating that the fines were inhumane and beyond belief. She termed the court's decision to give bonds to the hawkers amounts running up to Ksh 40,000 as ‘inhuman’ and ‘beyond belief’.
‘They don’t disrupt traffic, they don’t steal from anyone and they don’t force anyone to buy, all they do is earn an honest living considering unemployment is one of the greatest challenges facing our country,’ Kihika said.
