Mombasa County evicts traders, food vendors on Kongowea road

Deserted Kongowea Wholesale Market main street in Mombasa. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]

Mombasa County government security team Monday evicted food vendors and hawkers from the main street at the main gate of Kongowea Wholesale Market.

This follows the ban on the hawking of food outside the facility.

The county security officers descended on the hawkers at 7am to effect a notice issued by Kongowea Wholesale Market Superintendent Salim Hamumi on November 9, this year.

Kongowea Wholesale Market is the largest open market in the Coast region with over 10,000 traders visiting the place to buy various food items from upcountry and even Tanzania.

Mr Hamumi who last week gave the traders up to yesterday urged the hawkers to obey the order as agreed earlier with their leaders.

He also asked them to follow the county by-laws. "With effect from Monday (yesterday), all food vendors are expected to prepare their food in enclosed safe areas and trading operations to be carried out at the respective sections," said Hamumi.

A spot check at the market found that the street was empty, following the forceful eviction of traders and food vendors.

In some areas, hawkers who trade in various items such as second-hand shoes and cloth yesterday spent the day in running battles with the county askaris.

A food vendor Mwanaisha Omar who spoke to The Standard complained that they were required to pay Sh25 before entering the market.

We are being told to pay Sh25 every day and it is expensive because we make very little from the food we sell to the people," said Mwanamisi.

Mwanamisi who has been selling cakes and chapatis to people taking tea on the streets said the county government should not force them to go into the market which is 200 metres away.

Those who spoke to The Standard complained that the owners of some shops along Fidel Odinga street were being favoured and were the ones who wanted other traders kicked out.

However, the shopkeepers in the buildings said they were paying a lot of money for the county licences but were not getting the value at the end of the day.

County officials at the market insisted the hawkers were aware of the decision to remove them from the streets.

"We met their leaders and informed them about what the county government wanted to do so that every trader in Kongowea Wholesale Market was happy," said a county official.