Africa, Development & Aid, Economy & Trade, Headlines, Poverty & SDGs, Trade & Investment, Trade and poverty: Facts beyond theory

KENYA: Relocation of Traders in Nairobi Still Beset With Problems

Rosalia Omungo

NAIROBI, Apr 29 2008 (IPS) - Jackson Gitonga’s business has suffered during the recent post-election violence. He could not leave his house to sell his wares – second-hand shoes which, he says, are of high quality. He recorded a loss for the first time since he had started working as an informal trader three years ago.

But the setback has not dampened his spirits. ‘‘This is good business,’’ says the 30-year-old married man. On average, he makes a profit of 2,000 Kenyan shillings a day (30 dollars). ‘‘On a very lucky day, I could even get 5,000 shillings (76 dollars) profit. I have bought a car and land through hawking,’’ Gitonga told IPS.

‘‘I used to operate a handcart to and from Gikomba market. But a friend of mine introduced me to this lucrative business which now gives me my daily bread.’’ Gitonga trades in shoes that are ‘‘almost as good as new’’, which is why they are expensive.

He is one of the hawkers who have been moved from Nairobi’s central business district (CBD) to the new market for informal traders called Muthurwa market. He does not complain as his business has continued to flourish. However, most hawkers have been fighting the move for several years as being bad for their already precarious businesses. Joel Maina feels his stall was more vibrant in the CBD. He did not want to move, partly because the bus terminus at Muthurwa market was not ready, which meant there were not enough customers.

‘‘I have been hawking for 10 years and have been arrested many times by the city council (security). At least now I have a break from the cat and mouse game,’’ Maina says, referring to his having to evade the authorities through the years.

The relocation was partly controversial because of the ‘‘first come, first served’’ method of allocating stalls, which the traders rejected. Hawkers relocated last month with the issue of space remaining a thorn in the flesh.

‘‘Telling us to come here and compete for space is to invite war. Even in the streets, we have our regular spots and all hawkers respect that,’’ says a clothes hawker known as Munge.

On March 17, chaos erupted between hawkers and city council security personnel over space allocation. The traders demanded an expansion of the market.

Muthurwa market is located about one and a half kilometres from the CBD. It spans a two kilometre square area which also consists of a bus terminus. The Nairobi city council reports that the market can accommodate up to 8,000 hawkers.

But currently, more than 12,000 people are trading in the market. Clearly, lack of space is a big question facing the market.

When the deadline for hawkers to leave the CBD expired in mid-March, Nairobi city council officials had a rough time allocating stalls due to an overwhelming turnout of hawkers. By dawn, all available stalls had been grabbed.

Hosea Mole arrived too late. ‘‘I rose very early to be at the market by six in the morning. To my shock, people had actually spent the night there. The spaces were already long filled by dawn.’’

John Mwaura, who hawks sweets and assorted items, says, ‘‘ever since I finished secondary school eight years ago, I have been a hawker. I have never had another job, because I never got a chance anywhere else. I have a family and earn about 3,000 shillings (about 40 dollars) per month.

‘‘They tell us to come here, where we cannot even get a space. How do I get that money? Do they want me to go to steal to earn a living?’’ asks Mwaura.

Anthony Wanyonyi is a father of two who earns up to 5,000 shillings (76 dollars) per month selling small electronics. ‘‘There is not enough space at Muthurwa to accommodate all of us,’’ he laments.

‘‘One space allocated for 100 shillings (1,5 dollars) cannot accommodate all my wares, hence I have to pay for two more spaces. This is very expensive and will cost me my profits. I will be forced to pay 300 shillings (4.5 dollars) per day to be able to display all my wares,’’ said the dealer in small electronics.

He can only afford up to 25 shillings (about half a dollar). The city council has since reduced the amount to 50 shillings per day after the traders sent a petition to the government.

Women traders have suffered harassment, making some scared. They have had their clothes torn and others have been beaten in the clamour for space. Mama Maina is a second-hand clothes dealer who earns up to 6,000 shillings (90 dollars) per month.

She was harassed by a group of men in the market, making her abandon the space she had already paid for. However, she will continue with the business at the new market but is quick to add that given a chance, she would rather be back at the CBD. She will have to work extra hard to pay the 50 shillings fee.

Corruption seems to have also reared its head. ‘‘People purporting to be hawkers have occupied as many as eight stalls, which they then sub-let. We don’t recognise them,’’ laments Martin Mulwanza. ‘‘They are not genuine. Hawkers know each other and we don’t know some of these people.’’

This contradicts the basic idea behind the market. During the commissioning of the construction work in December 2006, then local government minister Musikari Kombo said the market would be truly a ‘‘hawkers bazaar’’, devoid of cartels, middlemen or brokers.

While the hawkers sort out their problems, business owners in the CBD are happier. They have complained about being inconvenienced for a long time and therefore consider it a turn for the better that the traders have been ‘‘flushed out’’ of the city streets.

Mary Njeri, who runs a clothes business from a stall in Ronald Ngala street, says the move could not have been more timely. ‘‘They block the pavement with their wares, keeping away our customers. Many cannot access the place because they have spread out their goods everywhere,’’ she laments.

‘‘This is unfair to those of us who pay taxes for our business. Theirs is a cat and mouse game to duck tax. Let business be fair,’’ she says.