Business came to a standstill along Kenyatta Avenue yesterday morning as popular Pimp My Ride car wash was demolished by the Nairobi county government.
The car wash is located on the plot where Simmers Club once stood, which was also brought down in a land dispute.
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko on Saturday said the owner of the car wash didn't have approval from the county government.
The businessman, Patrick Nderitu, was accused of hiring armed youths who attacked church members at Glad Tidings Crusade Ministry in Buru Buru estate.
He was also accused of grabbing the land on which the church is built.
According to site manager James Saitoti, the demolition was a retaliatory move by Governor Sonko, and they were not issued with any notice.
"This is pure malice and we can not suffer because our boss has a problem with the governor. No notice was issued. We have lost everything and some vehicles belonging to our customers have been destroyed. We can’t allow this to continue," he said.
City Hall's director of operations Eva Wairiuko was on site during the demolition but refused to comment.
An excavator arrived at the car wash at 10am and started pulling down the structure.
The car wash, which is barely a year old, had attractive painting on its walls, which was a mixture of orange, pink, purple and yellow.
The one-storey building had stalls fitted with navy blue opaque glass windows and walls painted red and white.
On the side facing Kenyatta Avenue, there were stalls on the upper floor which housed salons and traders who sold clothes.
