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It is a hot afternoon in Nairobi city centre. On Uhuru Highway, a traffic jam is building up on some lanes since a traffic cop has stopped some vehicles entering the city centre.
Due to the unforgiving heat from the scorching sun, some motorists seem impatient but outside hawkers and street families are going around looking for those with open windows to beg for money.
Some of the young ladies are carrying heavily covered stuff on their backs that can pass for babies.
However, women posing as street families are now being suspected of carrying dolls and rugs covered on their backs to attract sympathy from the motorists.
Several motorists interviewed by The Nairobian said that some of the beggars, when asked to show the faces of the alleged infants, become hostile and vanish in the traffic.
"I think it is the latest trick because recently, a young lady approached me asking for food for the baby. She seemed too young to have a kid," motorist Adam Kinyua said.
Baby's name
"I suspected that she was not carrying a baby on her back and I decided to ask her to tell me the name of the baby. She declined and turned hostile then vanished," he said.
Monica Kibe, a hawker on the stretch, says she has noticed the habit, noting that those with genuine cases could be ignored by Good Samaritans.
Away from the young ladies are underage boys who walk along the stretch wiping dust from windscreens of cars then demanding for a tip from the motorists.
The Nairbain has also established that despite the plans by the Nairobi County to evict the beggars and street families from the city, they have arrived in numbers since the beginning of the long holidays.
Some of the areas that have witnessed the influx of beggars and street families are Wabera Street, Aga Khan Walk and Kenyatta Avenue.
Eviction motion
The Nairobi County Assembly recently approved a motion to evict more than 15,000 people who survive on Nairobi streets without shelter in an attempt to restore sanity in the city.
Those targeted will include street families, beggars and those faking disabilities.
The genuine ones will then be taken for rehabilitation at Ruai Rehabilitation Centre that was put up by Nairobi County a while back.
