A storm is brewing between Governor Anyang' Nyong'o's administration and the Kisumu business community over a fresh plan to relocate traders and ban public service vehicles from the CBD.
The move is meant to change the face of Kisumu and make it more attractive to tourists and foreign investors, according to the county administration.
However, several sectors have dismissed the plans and vowed to disobey orders to vacate.
On Tuesday, matatu operators dismissed a notice by Kisumu City Manager Aballa Wanga requiring them to cease operating within CBD.
Led by their chairman Shem Ochuodho, they termed the notices issued on Saturday oppressive and discriminative against small businesses.
"We have tabled a number of issues within the business community but none of them has ever been addressed. We urge the governor to save traders," Ochuodho said.
James Omwa, the operators' organising secretary, termed the vacate notice illogical and biased.
They claimed the county government unit did not consult them. "As town service operators, we shall remain to be town service as our name indicates. We shall be picking and dropping as we have always done," he said. Matatus along Ang'awa Avenue in Kisumu. There is a fresh bid by the county government to move PSV operators from the CBD. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]
In the seven sets of notices, Prof Nyong'o's administration is seeking to bring order by streamlining operations of various sectors, especially within the city and its environs.
The reorganisation targets matatu operators, Tuk Tuk operators, heavy commercial trucks, hawkers and traders.
The new guidelines were also extended to other players in the transport sector such as motorists transporting passengers in and out of Kisumu County. They have been directed to strictly operate from their officially designated stages instead of parking at places of their choice.
The city manager also warned traders who were allocated stalls in various markets that were recently put up in Kisumu like the multi-million shilling Uhuru Business Park. The traders who currently are still trading at various undesignated trading areas such as along various streets of Kisumu have been told to move to the markets or their stall allocations be revoked.
Yesterday, traders operating next to Garissa Lodge vowed not to relocate. "It is unfair. We will lose customers if we are forced to go and establish our businesses elsewhere," said Aisha Mohamed, a trader.
