Nairobi plunge into anarchy after August polls

The country’s capital, financial and commercial center of Eastern Africa, Nairobi has collapsed beneath the weight of lawlessness that has taken over the city.

Nairobi has been converted into personal fiefdoms and a haven for boda boda operators, parking boys, and hawkers.

There are a variety of restrictions in the city because parking attendants, boda boda drivers, and hawkers all have their own sets of regulations while the county government has others.

The group has thrived while the new administration of Governor Johnson Sakaja finds its feet thanks to the laxity of election campaigns and the transition period.

The Nairobi Metropolitan Services’ (NMS) pedestrian and bicycle corridors have been transformed into boda boda stages with Kimathi Street and Kenyatta Avenue now at the mercy of the cruel bunch, the motorcyclists park right in the middle of the city.

The theft of comedian Timothy Kimani, commonly known as Njugush, by a group of armed highway robbers along University Way is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the level of insecurity in the area.

Additionally, hawkers have taken over the city, selling their wares everywhere from sidewalks to streets to even the right side of the road, reducing the two-lane roadways to one lane.

Since they arrive in the city center as early as 10 am and occupy even spaces in front of stores, for them, any time is hawking time. Street families are more willing to operate from prestigious urban locations.

Parking attendants at City Hall have collaborated closely with some parking attendants to defraud drivers.

Parking lads have also followed suit and taken control of parking locations in the city center.

Despite the new governor’s strong words, garbage mounds still litter the city and solid waste collectors appear to have taken a break.

Since the governor provided a one-week mandate to see changes, not much has changed.

“They are telling us they are now free to do whatever they please,” says one Nairobi County enforcement officer conceding lawlessness has taken over the city lately.

With Sakaja’s repeated phrase about not wanting to criminalise enterprises in line with Kenya Kwanza’s “Hustlers creed”, the capital has witnessed a rise in activities that had hitherto been suppressed.

“Some think they are now free to be all over, despite the fact that there are laws. For instance, there are places boda bodas are not allowed to reach,” the officer adds.

Nairobi has recently been a free-for-all, according to Dr. Jarius Musumba, the Acting County Secretary.

“The lawlessness has been there for a while through the election period to now the transition period,” said Dr Musumba.

Sakaja established a committee mid-last month to establish designated pick-up and drop-off places for boda boda operators as well as digital taxis, which have also been accused of breaking traffic laws in the city, in order to control the boda boda issue.

According to Ken Onyango, chairman of the Nairobi Boda Boda Association, Nairobi county has 176,000 registered boda boda riders.

In an effort to streamline the industry, the committee was given a week to choose the pick-up and drop-off locations that boda boda and digital taxis might utilize.

Another committee has also been formed to investigate the problem associated with hawkers.

However, Sakaja claimed that permission had already been provided to remove the hawkers from the city center, with a one-week deadline set, before the committee presented its findings.