Sakaja Clarifies Hawkers' Ban From Nairobi CBD, Entry Fees To Uhuru Park

The county boss noted that the agreement saw hawkers operate only within certain timelines as well as within certain sections of the city.

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Oct 27, 2023 - 12:06
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Sakaja Clarifies Hawkers' Ban From Nairobi CBD, Entry Fees To Uhuru Park
Collage of hawkers operating in the CBD and Nairobi Governor, Johnson Sakaja. /THE STAR.JOHNSON SAKAJA

Nairobi Governor, Johnson Sakaja has revealed that the directives issued on hawkers in the Central Business District (CBD) as announced on Wednesday, October 25 were not a ban, as widely reported.

While responding to queries from Kenyans on Thursday, October 26, Sakaja revealed that an agreement had been reached between the county government and the hawkers regarding operations in the CBD.

The county boss noted that the agreement saw hawkers operate only within certain timelines as well as within certain sections of the city.

A hawker attending to his business in Nairobi CBD. /MONEY254

"Hawking hasn’t been banned. We’ve agreed on where they can operate from and from what time. Yes. They start at 4 pm on designated streets," he clarified.

As per the new directive, hawking was banned along the Tom Mboya section leading to Moi Avenue during the weekdays, despite the ban later drawing a debate with divided opinions on whether or not the ban would be effective owing to the impact of the business in the city.

Sakaja however argued that the directives were meant to satisfy everyone, not just hawkers, but also pedestrians crisscrossing the CBD every day.

“I'm not just taking care of you, I'm also taking care of the people walking in the city," Sakaja noted.

"We want to treat our people as human beings and do the right thing. I want to make it clear that from Tom Mboya coming to Moi Avenue, the lanes connecting to Moi Avenue will have no hawking."

On the subject of entry fees to the renovated Uhuru Park, Sakaja maintained that there will be free access to the venue as promised in 2022.

He was responding to concerns raised by Kenyans who complained regarding the reported fees which they indicated would be unfair to the public given that they previously accessed the park for free.

"He (Sakaja) stated on September 27, 2022, that the public will access Uhuru and Central parks for free. Uhuru Park should have zero entry fees!" Boniface Mwangi commented.

"Yeah, it’s zero," Sakaja replied. Uhuru Park is however yet to be opened to the public once again as the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) finalises construction works.

While the exact dates of the reopening of the parks have not been revealed, the Park is anticipated to be opened to the public before the 2nd edition of the Nai Fest (Nairobi Festival) set to take place in December 2023.

Inside the refurbished Uhuru Park in Nairobi. /NMS

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