Hawkers on Nakuru’s Kenyatta Avenue to be evicted

The Nakuru County government will embark on a massive eviction of hawkers operating along Kenyatta Avenue in Nakuru town.

Governor Kinuthia Mbugua says this action is intended to help restore the lost glory of Nakuru town which was once said to be the cleanest town in Kenya.

Mr Mbugua said the street will soon be a no go zone for hundreds of hawkers and declared that this time around his government will not relent on its decision to relocate the street traders.

The one and half kilometers long street has been a permanent trading zone for more than 300 hawkers whose days in the area are now numbered as it will become a restricted area.

A tough talking Governor Mbugua said that Kenyatta Avenue was the pride and face of Nakuru Town and hence the need to keep it clean.

“Even in Nairobi City, you don’t find hawkers on streets in the Central Business District such as Mama Ngina, Kenyatta Avenue and Harambee Avenue and others,” said Mr Mbugua.

“When we allow all the hawkers to mount their makeshift tables along the street I think it is not in order and we must find an alternative site for the traders,” he said.

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

He said he was ready to take responsibility for the action.

“The people of Nakuru County gave me the mandate to lead them and it is high time I gave them a good direction on how things must be run in this county,” Mr Mbugua said.

His declaration to restore the town’s glory comes just days after addressing a stakeholders meeting at the Nakuru Agriculture Training Centre.

However, Mr Mbugua assured the hawkers that before the operation to remove them starts, he will consult with their representatives in order to look for an alternative site where they will be relocated.

“The exercise to remove the hawkers will be done in a humane way as my government recognises the role they play in creating employment to thousands of young people in the county,” said Mr Mbugua.

The move, when effected, is likely to create confusion as the county government has dilly dallied in putting up a modern market at the CBD where the hawkers would have been relocated to.

The hawkers had asked the county government to set aside funds to renovate the dilapidated Top Market at the CBD where hundreds of hawkers would be comfortable to conduct their businesses.

“We’re ready to move out of Kenyatta Avenue but the governor should take us to a suitable place where we shall be able to earn our daily bread as we have families to feed,” said a hawker.

Area Member of County Assembly Mr Stephen Kuria said that the county government was negotiating with the Kenya Railways to allow them lease part of its idle land where the hawkers could be relocated.

Mr Kuria said that the county government would not allow three prominent businessmen who were eying the land with the intention of buying it from Kenya Railways to do so.