Nakuru County informal traders chairperson Johnson Ndegwa has asked the county to dialogue with hawkers to end the wrangles between them.
Ndegwa said this as their final decision in Nakuru Town after holding a session with hawkers adding that dialogue was the only way to solve the difference between the county government and the hawkers.
“We want dialogue to be initiated to pave way for a long solution to the problems facing hawkers,” said Ndegwa.
The chairman also said that there was no need to pile problems on hawkers.
“Hawkers should not be engaged in unnecessary confrontation with the county government for issues that can be sorted out through dialogue,” added Ndegwa.
He said that Nakuru hawkers were law-abiding traders and have complied with all trading regulations laid out by the county government.
“Hawkers have paid all their licenses and have complied with other regulations,” affirmed the chairman.
Ndegwa was responding to the directive by Nakuru County governor Kinuthia Mbugua that hawkers would be forcefully removed from the Central Business District (CBD) by January 1, 2015 if voluntarily vacation fails.
More than 1,500 hawkers have vowed to defy the directive saying that the move would cripple them financially.
“Interference with our operations will affect us financially because customers are easily available at the CBD,” said Nancy Waithera, a fruit vendor in Nakuru.
“The county government has shown disrespectful move by involving politics into hawkers affairs,” added Aron Karanja, a miscellaneous vendor.
The hawkers said that their rights were being infringed on since they were not even consulted by the county government.