Nairobi's Central Business District (CBD) has long been the epicentre of commerce, governance, and culture.

But over the years, the hawker crisis has turned it into a battleground between small-scale traders and city authorities.

Governor Johnson Sakaja's recent directive to bar hawkers from the CBD's main streets is not the first of its kind.

Similar moves have been made in the past, only for the hawkers to return days later, undeterred by crackdowns.