Huruma MCA Peter Chomba addressing the press in Eldoret town on Monday, January 15, 2018. [Photo/Elvanis Ronoh].
Huruma MCA Peter Chomba has refuted claims by Uasin Gishu deputy governor Daniel Chemno that he is the one inciting hawkers not to occupy the hawkers market.
"The allegations are uncalled for and only meant to tarnish my name. Where on earth did I tell them not to operate inside the hawkers market?" he said in Eldoret town, Monday.
"the deputy governor's utterances are meant to divert attention from the profiling of communities and brutality of the county askaris video that went viral about hawkers in Eldoret," he added.
He reiterated that the hawkers market can only accommodate 310 people, yet Eldoret has over 6,000 hawkers.
"In the last 3 years we allocated Sh30 million for the expansion of the hawkers market but the executive devolved the money to buy coolers for farmers. The county needs to be serious in dealing with hawkers issues. This could have helped to solve the current stalemate," noted Chomba.
He urged the county government to train their county askaris on how to handle people
"If somebody has done a mistake he or she should be arrested and taken to court instead of being beaten. They (county askaris) need proper training on how to handle people," he said.
The hawkers also dismissed claims of being incited by their area MCA.
"The person in charge of county security Paul Ruto should be fired since he is the one responsible for profiling and harassment and brutality against hawkers. He has openly told us to go and look for space in Central. Our MCA is not the problem but the county government," said Francis Kamanda, one of the hawkers.
"It's is the Kikuyu hawkers that are being uprooted out of the county by being denied the chance to do business. We don't have the same rights as our Kalenjin counterparts just because of our leaders. Saying that our MCA is involved it is a total lie, " added Martha Njoki, another hawker.
Chemno on Monday said the Huruma MCA was inciting hawkers not to occupy the wholesale market.