• City manager warns that failure to adhere to the notice will force the county government to demolish the structures.
• Mary Awino said they lack alternative space to do business.
Image: MAURICE ALAL
Hundreds of traders in Kisumu have panicked after the county government issued a notice requiring their stalls removed within seven days.
In a letter dated August 28, city manager Doris Ombara warned that failure to adhere to the notice will force the county government to demolish the structures.
“Notice is hereby given to all stall owners/temporary structures to remove the said structures immediately and not later than seven days from the date hereof,” she said.
The letter was copied to the acting county secretary, the Kisumu Central deputy county commissioner, the Kisumu Central division police boss, the Railways police station boss and the Directorate Inspectorate of the City of Kisumu.
More than 200 traders operate in targetted along Gumbi Road, Jumuia Hotel, Anderson and Ondiek Highway.
Mary Awino said they lack alternative space to do business. “We depend on small businesses to pay school fees and feed our families,” she said.
Electronics vendor John Wafula appealed to Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o’s administration to give them an alternative space. He said many people will be rendered jobless if their stalls are demolished.
The notice came barely a month after buildings and shops on Kenya Railways Corporation land were razed, leaving hundreds of traders counting huge losses. Businesses for more than 2,000 residents were left in ruins after bulldozers flattened their structures.
A lobby has urged the county government to relocate the traders. The Transform Empowerment for Action Initiative yesterday said measures must be put in place to ensure the planned changes do not kill small-scale businesses.
“We are not opposed to changing the face of Kisumu, but proper plans must be in place to take care of traders. Business is their source of livelihood,” TEAM executive director George Owuor said.
Some of the places recently demolished are Lwang’ni beach eateries, Akamba Lane shops, Winmart business shops, and structures on Tilapia beach and part of Lake market. Lwang’ni and Tilapia beaches are famously known for fish meals.
Other temporary structures in downtown have also been brought down. The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce said more than 3,000 businessmen have been affected.
Kisumu Branch Chairman Israel Agina said those who were employed directly and indirectly by the establishments have been rendered jobless. But Governor Nyong’o has defended the eviction of hawkers from the city centre ahead of the Africities Summit in 2021. He said the county had secured 23 acres from the Kenya Railways for the establishment of a market to house the hawkers.
Nyong’o recently said the relocation is meant to spur growth, adding that hawkers are in the streets because they lack proper establishments.
Those who have encroached on the KRC land are driven out to open the lakefront for the operationalisation of the Kisumu Port, which has been revived for Sh3 billion. The city management is also removing temporary structures from the streets in a beautification programme.
(Edited by F'Orieny)