Traders at the Mama Ngina Waterfront Park in Mombasa have opposed attempts by local politicians to allow hawking inside the park.
Their sentiments come amid a push by some Mombasa politicians to allow hawkers into the park, a move that has been viewed as a political campaign strategy ahead of the 2022 general election.
Registered traders operating inside the park said the move would turn the historic tourist site into a hawking zone.
They said permitting unregulated businesses would affect the look of the iconic seaside park, which was recently renovated and redeveloped by the government at a cost of Sh460 million.
Mama Ngina Waterfront Park traders chairperson Salim Shafi said allowing more hawkers would lead to increased unregulated activities in the tourists’ attraction site.
“Unregulated activities can lead to crime, which will have a negative impact on tourism. Since its rehabilitation, the park has been attracting both local and international tourists, we would not like to lose that market to hawkers,” Shafi said.
Mama Ngina Waterfront Park national coordinator Ali Noor contends that allowing hawkers and other petty traders into the park would affect its appeal more so after the government spent a lot of money on beautification.
“We are convinced that hawking would lead to the deterioration of this place and would result in a decline of tourist flow into the park," he said.
He noted that the flow of tourists has been increasing since the completion of the beautification work, adding that National Youth Service personnel have been doing a good job providing security at the site.
Noor insisted the project is designed to support tourism activities and not a market place, because it has a space for only 76 business stall for traders.
“The park is primarily a tourist relaxation site and not a market place and hawkers should go to designated markets within the county. We are keen on maintaining the tourist hotspot as a place of leisure and relaxation,” he said.
He added that the traders allowed to conduct business within stalls at the facility were required to observe the Covid-19 protocols and guidelines as outlined by the Ministry of Health.
At the same time, Noor welcomed the lifting of the nationwide night curfew saying it would allow the tourist park to support a 24-hour economy.
Rehema Hamisi, a Mombasa resident who frequents the park with her children, said the park provides them with ample space to have fun, adding that it plays a key role in the community's wellbeing.
The park, which sits on a 26-acre land overlooking the Kilindini channel in Mombasa, was in 2019 transformed into an integrated urban tourist attraction facility.
The refurbishment included landscaping and paving the waterfront with concrete blocks, construction of state of the art amphitheater, the Kilindini cultural centre, ablution blocks and two main gates leading to the park among other developments.
Recently, the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth affairs connected the Park with the internet turning it into a public WiFi zone, which was realised through collaboration between various agencies at both the National and County level.
The facility has also given food vendors a platform during weekends to showcase different kinds of coastal delicacies attracting both local and international visitors who are thronging the place to sample the food.
-Edited by SKanyara
