The county government has announced that hawkers will no longer be permitted to operate within Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD), as part of a new plan to reduce congestion in the city centre and maintain its cleanliness.

On Friday, Chief Environment Officer Geoffrey Mosiria said that the county will enforce a policy restricting informal traders to designated areas and limiting their operating hours.

“There is a lot we have learnt and we are going to implement the same. We are going to work on our policies governing the hawkers,” Mosiria stated.

"The workers should not be within the CBD walkways. Workers shall be in the designated area within a specific time."

The decision follows a recent benchmarking visit to Rajkot city in India, where county officials studied how Indian authorities have managed to maintain a hawker-free city centre.

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"Back in India, we learnt a lot. Those guys are doing a good job in terms of managing their city. The city is clean. Why? No hawkers are allowed in the CBD; they have cameras everywhere," Mosiria explained.

"If they are seen hawking, they are apprehended, and the luggage is taken away for 30 days. If the goods are perishable, then they are taken to homeless homes.”

To help enforce the new rules, the county plans to install surveillance cameras across city streets to detect and deter hawkers attempting to return to the CBD after being relocated.

“In addition, they will install CCTV cameras in the streets to monitor the city, so that, besides enhancing security, the cameras will help ensure that hawkers are not sneaking back into the Central Business District,” he said.

The county is expected to begin rolling out the new hawker policy in the coming weeks as it works to reorganise trade and restore order in the heart of the capital.

While the county views the move as essential for restoring order, it is likely to provoke mixed reactions from hawkers, many of whom depend on CBD foot traffic for their daily earnings.

The extent to which they will embrace the designated zones and altered schedules remains to be seen, especially in a city where informal trade is a vital source of livelihood