Business activities halted on Eastleigh's Yusuf Haji Road as hawkers decry 'kanjo' harassment

Business activities along Yusuf Haji Road in Eastleigh (formerly First Avenue) were temporarily halted on Thursday as some hawkers protested what they described as continuous harassment by Nairobi City County askaris.

The hawkers, who were mostly mothers, alleged that the askaris were causing disunity among them by selectively targeting individuals for removal from their vending spots while allowing others to continue their businesses uninterrupted.

Expressing her discontent, Safia Noor, a hawker, highlighted the perceived injustice, stating, "Some of us are being forcibly relocated while others are favoured to carry on. It's unfair...we are all Kenyan citizens." Speaking to Eastleigh Voice, she voiced the collective frustration felt by the affected vendors.

Garbage dumping

The angry hawkers accused the enforcement officers, commonly referred to as 'Kanjos,' of resorting to dumping garbage deliberately in their working areas.

They asserted that this tactic was a ploy to displace them from their established workspaces.

One of the aggrieved vendors pointed at the scattered trash, stating, "See this garbage? It was brought here by the Kanjo. This is their way of pushing us out."

The situation underscored the escalating tensions between the hawkers and the officers, highlighting the complex challenges facing street vendors in accessing and maintaining their livelihoods within Eastleigh.

"We are just trying to get livelihoods from here, all of us here are single mothers, our leaders must protect us," Fatuma Hussein lamented.

In recent times, city enforcement officers have been at the centre of numerous incidents, as various viral videos circulating online depict unsettling confrontations between them and street vendors.