Charles Jaoko, a disabled shoe repairer, has been facing it rough in his 10 years’ experience as a shoe repairer at the Mombasa CBD.
In the hands of the county government officers, Jaoko explains how he is not happy once he sees them approaching his spot.
“I have gone through a lot,” he says.
Through making his customers happy by repairing their shoes, he is able to bring food to his table, earning about Sh500 a day.
He is forced to work at the CBD because business here is good.
He was forced to relocate from Mtwapa because there, the business is down, and it becomes hard to cater for his basic needs.
In town, business is really good, but thanks to county officers, he has it rough.
Having a bad day when my shoe gets spoilt along the way, I meet Jaoko busy mending another shoe.
He welcomes me but does not have a sitting bench for his customers. It is not that he does not value his customers to give them a seat as they wait while he is taking care of the shoe.
“I had a bench for my customers but the county government officers took it away,” he says.
When he is being harassed, he tries to tell the officers he is disabled, he cannot walk, but the officers do not believe him and just mishandle him.
“My customers are the ones who stand by me at the moment and they try to explain to the officers that I am disabled, that they should just leave me alone I proceed with my business,” he says.
Disability is not inability, he believes, as he does not support begging on the streets. He believes in hard work, where one enjoys the fruits of their own sweat.
Joako only wishes that the county government would at least look for jobs for the disabled, and a place where they can work peacefully without all the harassment he has been facing day in day out.
He has a helper who ensures he gets all the tools ready by 6am. They both start off at 8am, with all the tools set ready to work on shoes.
Jaoko’s helper, Nyang Wa Nyang by name, says county officers have a bad way of handling things.
He is much older and does not think it is proper for an officer much younger than him to mishandle him.
“Why should the officers mishandle you? They hold you by the pants roughly into their car. It is true that they are only doing their job, but they should at least do it with some courtesy,” Nyang says.
Jaoko and Nyang both wish for a lasting solution.
Although the going is tough, Jaoko says he is not doing something illegal but only trying to sustain his livelihood in a way that makes his customers happy.