The Thika Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on Tuesday summoned Thika District Business Association (TDBA) officials to record statements on allegations of incitement.
Allegedly, TDBA had coerced some traders into a demonstration they were not ready for.
The officials, Sam Chege (Secretary) and Alfred Wanyoike (Treasurer) are accused of destabilising normalcy in Thika Sub County by inciting market operators against paying the necessary dues to the county government.
Police officers had a rough time trying to keep the irate operators out of the police station compound but finally succeeded in recording statements from the summoned officials as they were accompanied by their supporters.
The treasurer, speaking after recording statements, accused the police of being used by people he was not willing to name to intimidate the market operators to silence.
He said that the operators would not be cowed to adopting the draconian levies as they were untenable and beyond the reach of many operators.
She revealed that a three tonne vehicle carrying potatoes was being charged Sh4,000 up from Sh500 with the same load of sukumawiki being charged Sh1,500 up from Sh700 among many other charges.
“We are now being forced to pay the dues under a heavy presence of security personnel,” he complained.
The market operators have taken the county government to court challenging the authenticity of the new levies with the market operators saying that the county government had no moral obligation of charging anything as the County Finance bill was still in court and the current levies were not consultatively agreed.
They further accuse the county secretary, Dominic Gicheru, of altering an MoU agreed between them last week, an allegation that Gicheru has refuted.