Governor Johnson Sakaja, according to Charles Kerich, a member of the Nairobi County Chief Executive Committee for Finance and Economic Planning, has opposed the use of force in dealing with hawkers and matatu operators in the Central Business District.

Speaking on a local radio station on Monday, May 27, 2024, Kerich said Sakaja advocated for a system change in the city by addressing issues more from the perspective of the people.

The CEC claims that Sakaja is more concerned with teaching the public than with repressing them with force. Kerich contended that the regulatory change had resulted in fewer incidents of turmoil in the city concerning hawkers, matatu drivers, and county askaris.

“You know the style of administration of Governor Sakaja has always been not to harass the mwananchi, that is why he is really opposed to this thing of rungus chasing hawkers down. We have not had any teargas with hawkers in the last one and half years neither with the matatu people,” Kerich stated.

“We sit at City Hall and they raise their issues and sometimes they realize the issues are amongst themselves… they realize it is not even a county problem so we then come in to mediate. The philosophy of helping people pay instead of chasing them down is what we are trying to pursue,” he insisted.

However, Kerich acknowledged that the policy had drawbacks that have impacted certain sections of the county.

“We will get down to serious enforcement but this thing of people being bundled into a truck that was waiting downstairs and being driven around the city all day stopped for good,” said the CEC.

Kerich urged the populace to reciprocate, particularly by paying land rates, in order to ensure the new policy’s effectiveness. Hundreds of city property owners who have neglected to pay their land charges could face auction, according to the member of the County Chief Executive Committee responsible for Finance and Economic Planning.

Kerich bemoaned the fact that hundreds of Nairobi citizens who own land have neglected to fulfill their obligations in spite of the waivers.