A section of traders operating within the Eldoret Retail Market on Tuesday staged a peaceful demonstration over alleged harassment.
The traders who marched to the Governor’s office accused the County enforcement officers of confiscating their goods and carts.
They also alleged that the enforcement officers with protection of uniformed police officers stormed the market on Monday night and destroyed their goods, trollies among others.
“I received a call last night at 1:00 am that goods were being vandalized at the market, something that is unfair to us. We have been struggling as youth to make ends meet,” said one of the traders.
The traders lamented that they have struggled for the last 10 years under former governor Jackson Mandago’s administration and that they will not be subjected to the same treatment.
Left jobless
Jane Mbone, another trader at the Retail market lamented that some of them, especially the youths, had taken loans of up to Ksh100,000 but the latest action by county enforcement officers had left them jobless.
“I am afraid we are going to experience a lot of insecurity if the county government continues to harrass these young traders. Many of them are learned and due to lack of jobs they have decided to engage in fruit selling business to earn a living only to be harassed by the county askaris,” Mbone said.
“We hoped the hustler government would support the small traders,” she added.
Some of the affected traders have threatened to continue staging the protests within the Eldoret Central Business District (CBD) until the county government responds to their pleas.
“One of us fainted when he saw his ‘bangbang’ gone and now he is in hospital. Where are we headed if the same government is killing our hustle? Some of us have taken loans to run these businesses,” said Milka Wanjiku, a trader.
Huruma ward Member of County Assembly (MCA) Kimani Wanjohi who joined the traders in the protest condemned the incident.
Meeting with Chelilim
He demanded that the county askaris be more responsible while dealing with the traders.
Wanjohi further asked Uasin Gishu Governor Jonathan Bii Chelilim to hold talks with the traders and ensure their businesses are supported by the government.
“Traders had a difficult ten years under the regime of the former Governor Jackson Mandago who is the current senator and we hoped that the current Governor would be true to his promise of protecting business traders from perpetual harassment by the county askaris,” said Wanjohi.
During Mandago’s 10-year reign, Eldoret traders regularly engaged county enforcement officers in running battles within the town.
But as he campaigned for the gubernatorial seat, the current governor had pledged to ensure a conducive environment for the traders.
