Scores of traders whose business stalls were demolished near Afraha stadium have demanded that the county government compensates them for their losses.
The traders complained that they incurred huge losses as a result of the demolitions. They said their property was destroyed and the rest looted during the demolitions.
Speaking on Saturday, the traders who had gathered to plot their next course of action, lamented that the county government was frustrating their efforts to make a decent and honest living. They said the piece of land on which their kiosks stood had been donated to them by area MP David Gikaria. Gikaria was the civic leader then in the defunct Nakuru Municipal Council.
The traders accused Nakuru Governor Kinuthia Mbugua of being insensitive to their plight.
“This is very unfair to the people for the governor to order such a demolition,” said Melisa Atieno, one of the affected business owners.
The demolitions caught many of the traders unawares and resulted in a standoff that lasted several hours. Police were forced to shoot in the air to disperse the rowdy traders who were joined by area residents. No one was injured during the incident.
Governor Mbugua has in the recent past found himself in trouble with small-scale traders over his plans to rid the town of street traders and hawkers. Mbugua has consistently said that hawking in the town and stalls have to be streamlined to ensure that the town operates in an orderly manner.
Affected traders are now planning to hold a demonstration to prevail upon the county government to rescind its decision to evict them from the town centre.