Three governors, Kidero, Sonko and Sakaja, one persistent problem: Nairobi's hawker puzzle remains unsolved
It is 5pm on a rainy Thursday along Tom Mboya Street in the capital city of Nairobi. A middle-aged man is jumping through a large puddle of water, but his right leg ends up stepping on the wares of an elderly woman across the street.
A scuffle ensues as the women hurl insults at the man and demand compensation.
A matatu driver, impatient with the duo, honks his horn, frightening the man, who scurries to safety on the other side of the road and disappears into the crowd in an instant.
The scene on the street offers a glimpse of what pedestrians experience in Nairobi, East Africa's largest and busiest city.
The city has undergone a transformation, with the number of hawkers almost tripling in a short space of time.
The increase in the number of hawkers has put a strain on the limited space.
It is a "survival of the fittest" battle between shop owners, hawkers, pedestrians and transport operators.
But it's not just the puddles you have to watch out for; walking around Nairobi's CBD requires a great deal of multitasking.
You have to watch out for the wares of the street vendors, keep an eye out for oncoming matatus and keep your handbag close to your chest.
Not to mention the ever-aggressive 'makangas' who seem to think that everyone on the road is their passenger.
For a long time, shopkeepers who have rented stalls have had to bear the brunt of the costs.
Ms Leila Wambui, 32, owns a car parts shop along River Road in Nairobi. Like every other shopkeeper along the road, she has to part with hundreds of thousands of shillings before she can set up shop.
Hawkers at a pedestrian's footpath along River Road in Nairobi July 18, 2021.
On average, this includes two months' rent as a deposit, another two months' rent in advance and a hefty amount of goodwill.
This is on top of the fees they have to pay to the Nairobi City County government for licences.
The hawkers have taken over the streets in front of their shops, inconveniencing customers who visit their shops.
"There is nothing we can do. These shops you see along here have been here for 15 years and they were thriving, but it is difficult to do business with the blocked entrances," says Ms Wambui, pointing down the street.
Hawkers have taken over various streets in Nairobi, reporting for work as early as 6am and closing late at night.
This is despite city regulations that restrict their activities after 5pm.
Walking around the Kenya Archives area between Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Avenue, for example, from 4pm is like navigating a minefield.
Disorder seems to be the norm as hawkers occupy every available space.
And at the end of Tom Mboya Street, the hawkers have also taken over a road leading to the bus station, leaving pedestrians only a small space to share with vehicles.
"We cannot even move around easily. It is a problem to navigate these streets," says Mr Robert Kanyanga, a regular hawker.
To make matters worse, some matatu operators have also turned the road into a pick-up and drop-off point, making it almost impossible for pedestrians to cross the section.
For business owners like Andrew Muchangi, who has also been in Nairobi for 15 years, the failure of the county government to regulate hawkers in Nairobi is a continuation of the breakdown of order that has been seen in the Nairobi CBD for the past few years.
"Most of the people who used to shop here have moved to less chaotic commercial areas. It is a problem that needs to be addressed. It gets worse after every administration because there is no goodwill to solve the problem," says Mr Muchangi.
Hawkers sell their wares near Kenya National Archives along Moi Avenue on October 12, 2017. They have been officially allowed to operate in the city centre.
But the hawkers say they are in business just like the shopkeepers and must be respected.
Mr John Momanyi, a fruit vendor along Ronald Ngala Street, says moving the hawkers to the back lanes will not solve the problem.
"We do business like them and this is Nairobi, we are all here to feed our families. They wanted to move us to the back streets but we refused. We cannot go where no one passes," says Mr Momanyi.
Solving the problem of hawking in Nairobi has been a thorn in the side of previous governments.
During the Mwai Kibaki era, the government spent at least Sh700 million on the construction of Muthurwa Market in 2007 in a bid to relocate hawkers from the CBD.
This did not work.
A walk through Muthurwa Market reveals that although some stalls are empty, hawkers have refused to occupy them and instead spread their wares along Nairobi's Landhies Road.
An attempt by Nairobi City County this week to relocate vendors from Muthurwa Market on Haile Sellasie Avenue to a new market on Kangundo Road quickly hit a snag as traders demonstrated demanding a return to the old order.
Hawkers sell their wares near the Kenya National Archives along Tom Mboya Street.
"The stalls are expensive. There are a few people who usually take them from the county and rent them to traders at an exorbitant price. You cannot afford to pay Sh7,000 for a stall in this business. It is better to be here on the street," Ms Faith Wanjiru, a shoe vendor on the street told Nation.Africa.
Godfrey Akumali, the county secretary and head of the public service, said the decision to relocate wholesale potato, onion and cabbage vendors from Muthurwa to Kang'undo Road had been sealed and there was no going back.
According to the county, the number of traders and customers visiting the market has increased over the years, forcing some to sell their wares along the road, causing congestion and traffic jams.
"The traders have taken over the road. You cannot walk around the place and it is unbelievable that the situation is allowed to continue...we are not relenting on the issue that the wholesalers must relocate to Kangundo Road Market," said Mr Akumali.
Mr Akumali also stressed that the devolved unit plans to use the Inspectorate to ensure that hawkers are moved to the back streets.
"We had a lapse but we will ensure strict compliance. Most of the back streets have already been completed and we are currently working with the hawkers to ensure a smooth transition. We have already informed them that each of them will occupy the pallets to the standard size that we have set," said Mr Akumali.
Mr Akumali also said that the hawkers' management would be involved in the relocation process.
"There will be strict times for the hawkers to sell their wares. As a county, hawking starts from Tom Mboya and goes backwards. We are not banning hawking, we just want to ensure that it is done in an orderly manner. We are bringing order to the town and we will work with the leadership of the hawkers in the same way we have been working with them for the past two years without chaos," he added.
But Starehe Hawkers Association chairperson John Wamawaya told Nation.Africa that the resettlement project failed after the county failed to construct the back lanes as agreed.
"We had agreed that they would start by cleaning the back lanes, putting up cabros and lighting. We were halfway through and they told us there were no funds and that we should do it ourselves. In some of them, the traders took the initiative to buy the iron sheets because the county government abandoned the project," Mr Wamawaya told Nation.Africa.
Hawkers display their wares outside Savanis Bookshop on the junction of Lagos and Latema roads on February 25, 2023.
He also said that after the project failed, they agreed with the county government to have strict trading hours and to operate backwards from Tom Mboya Street.
Matatu operators also opposed the construction of the shelters on the backlanes, arguing that they had paid for the backlanes as their pick-up and drop-off points. Building owners have also rejected the county government's plans to build the back lanes behind their houses.
Enforcement officers in the administration of former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero were also accused of corruption as Nairobi's hawker menace got out of hand.
It was also during his time that a controversial Bill was introduced to fine those found buying from hawkers Sh2,000. However, the bill was not passed.
Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko also pointed to the construction of Mwariro market in Kariokor at a cost of Sh400 million as a solution to the hawker problem. Hawkers were to be relocated to the market once it was built. The plan ran into a headwind. Some of the stalls in the market are still unoccupied.
In 2020, the Nairobi City County Assembly passed the Nairobi City County Pop-up Markets and Street Vendors Act, 2019, which was expected to streamline hawking in the CBD by setting specific hours and streets where they would operate.
It was also expected to establish a specific department to develop market regulations and provide an approach to developing trade in the CBD. The law was never implemented.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, who won the seat with 699,392 votes, promised to restore order, hope and dignity.
His administration embarked on the construction of markets and an ambitious hawker relocation plan. The relocation plan involved the construction of temporary structures in the various back alleys of the city centre.
For a period of time, the project started with yellow markings on the various back lanes within the CBD. In the 2023/2024 financial year, the Sakaja-led administration allocated Sh100 million for the project.
A spot check of the various back lanes more than a year after the project started paints a different picture. Most of the back roads are in a dilapidated state and the metal structures erected are gathering dust.
For the past three weeks, Nation.Africa has been seeking comment from the County Executive on the progress of the Sh100 million hawker relocation project, but our efforts have been met with a cold shoulder.
However, a source in the county executive who spoke on condition of anonymity said the project was abandoned due to the uncontrollable influx of hawkers.
"We really did not take into account the number of hawkers in the CBD when we started the project. We built the structures, but we realised that their number was huge. You cannot move some of the hawkers to the back lanes and leave others on the streets. It was a big failure for us, but we have learnt our lesson," the source said.
In previous statements, Mr Sakaja has defended the hawkers, insisting that they are out to earn a living like any other Kenyans. This, he seems to have realised, is a political hot potato.
"On hawkers, we have to strike a balance. There is someone who will complain about hawkers while he is wearing a suit from work to feed his children; but because he had a little difficulty in accessing a matatu house, he will say these hawkers should not be there," Mr Sakaja said in September 2023.
Mairura Omwenga, the chairman of the Town and County Planners Association of Kenya (TCPAK), points out that the problem of hawking in the CBD has two sides; the sellers and the buyers. To tackle the problem, he argues, the county needs to focus on both.
"When we talk about hawkers, we need to understand that there are two sides; the buyers and the sellers. We tend to forget that and focus on the hawkers. The best way to make progress is for the administration to come up with specific places in the CBD where hawkers and buyers can meet. The main problem with previous efforts is that they have not focused on these two aspects," says Mairura.
Unoccupied business spaces at a backstreet near River Road, Nairobi on July 13, 2024, the area is among the neglected areas constructed by the County Government to accommodate mushrooming numbers of hawkers as well as ease congestion and bring order in the city.
He also questions the county government's approach to moving hawkers to the back lanes of the CBD.
"You cannot take them to the back streets. They are traders like everyone else. Are there buyers who will go to the backstreets to buy their goods? That is like saying you have thrown them into the back lanes and it will not work. These are our people, let us provide them with adequate light, water and other amenities so that they are part of the ecosystem," he adds.
For political analyst Fred Ogola, the main obstacle to dealing with the hawker issue is lack of goodwill and being held hostage by politicians.
"The problem with the county government is that the governor has political forces behind him that control the city. He is unable to run the affairs of the city because he is held hostage by higher political figures. So he cannot make decisions because he is afraid that those decisions will upset the powers that be," says Prof Ogola.
Prof Ogola also argues that a big city like Nairobi needs an administrator who can mobilise and allocate resources to make things work.
"Ideally, this is a systematic leadership problem. The county needs an administrator who can get things done. A person who can allocate resources to solve problems faced by city residents, but this is lacking in the county government," says Prof Ogola.
