A police officer and county enforcement officers mercilessly beat a fruit vendor using rungus during an operation in Eldoret town on January 11, 2018. [Photo/Joe Khisa]
Hawkers in Eldoret town have been asked to ensure they fully adhere to the set laws and regulations governing their operations.
This is in what the Uasin Gishu county assembly Trade and Industrialisation Committee chairman David Keitany says will minimize confrontations between the hawkers and the county enforcement officers.
Speaking in Eldoret town on Wednesday, Keitany, who is also the Moiben ward Member of County Assembly, said hawkers must always operate within the rule of the law.
"We live in a country governed by the rule of law and each one of us has a duty to follow those laws," noted Keitany.
"The laws are meant to help all of us and if anyone goes against them, then they will in one way or the other end up disadvantaging another person which we don't have that to happen," he added.
The MCA noted that hawkers must operate only from the designated areas.He further dismissed claims that the county government of Uasin Gishu was profiling traders in Eldoret town.
"Traders in this town are from all communities and when you look at the recent incident, I want to believe those affected are not from a particular community so for me the issue of ethnic profiling is neither here nor there," said the Moiben MCA.