Small scale traders and hawkers deserves better in Eldoret



The past one week has witnessed firestorm as a result of a video that surfaced in social media showing uasin gishu County askaris infamous "kanjos" beating up hawkers and small scale traders senselessly in eldoret downtown market.

The opinions from people all over the country and also in diaspora differed sharply as there are those who came to the defense of the county askaris actions while others grossly castigated their actions terming as infringing their rights.

The debate got nasty when the section of Nakuru County leaders chided their uasin gishu counterparts of bias basing on tribal patterns.

Whatever perspective we are looking at it. The traders deserve to be treated with decorum and utmost respect. Hawkers are fending for themselves and their families. They pay taxes to the same local government and enable them streer its leadership forward. Fighting them amounts to shooting oneself on the foot. Proper policies should be laid down in order to solve any stalemate that maybe existing between the two factions.

Using unprecedented amount of force is not only barbaric but also disturbing to say the least. Sobriety should reign Supreme when handling issues and no amount of explanations will justify the brutality.

Several cities around the world have had policies that enable its small scale traders to operate within specified jurisdiction and time. The legislative arm of the government should enact laws on the same. Let's get civil. The trader being mistreated by the government is the same who pays them to serve. Without tax payers there could be no government.

Better treatment should headline service delivery. The fundamentals human rights violations should not in any way be used to govern. There are other many ways of enforcing rule of law. Arresting and charging the wrongdoers in a court of law should be number one priority.

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