Over 1,000 traders at the Fedha Stage in Embakasi East, Nairobi, have taken to the streets to protest a 24-hour eviction notice issued on Saturday, December 7.
The traders, who are now living in fear of losing their businesses, told the press that they had not been granted sufficient time to make further arrangements.
According to a trader named Robert Maina, the land is registered to the National Oil Corporation but is supposedly being sold to a private developer.
“We have more than 100 tenants and yesterday, DCC Eric Mlevu and OCPD Wesley Kimeto gave us a notice of less than 24 hours,” he lamented.
Muthurwa residents gathered following an eviction notice. September 19, 2020.
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“They were supposed to provide that eviction notice earlier and give us enough time to relocate.”
Most of the traders stated that they believed certain people were pushing for the sale of the land and asked the government to intervene.
To add insult to injury, the business owners had not been granted any alternatives of where to relocate leaving them in a state of limbo.
“They should follow due diligence and remember there are people here. They should remember there are people here,” another lamented.
Even though they were threatened with demolition, they were adamant that they would not vacate and that whoever the private developer was should sit with them and discuss a way forward.
“If they want to demolish the houses, they should come to the drawing board and meet with us as leaders,” one protestor opined.
More than just being money-makers for the business owners, they also stated that their businesses were the hearts of the estate feeding off each other’s businesses.
If eventually demolished, it will add to a series of several estates that have been recently demolished in Nairobi to give way to development projects.
Residents during the evictions at Makima in Embu county on Saturday, April 24, 2021.