Business owners along the bustling Athumani Kipanga Street, popularly known as Jam Street in Eastleigh, Nairobi, are counting losses after county askaris, popularly known as Kanjo, demolished their shops.
In a video seen by Kenyans.co.ke, a bulldozer is seen tearing through the container shops while helpless shop owners watch in disbelief, unable to salvage their belongings worth millions of shillings.
Reports indicate that the affected business owners had been issued warnings by the county askaris to vacate the area and remove their items ahead of the planned demolition, however, most of them ignored the warning.
Business owners who rented legal shops in the street were in support of the demolitions arguing that the structures were illegal and contributed to congestion on the street.
The structures and businesses had taken over pavements and roadways, leaving pedestrians and motorists to navigate through tight, congested spaces.
This led to constant traffic jams, hindering access for shoppers and suppliers trying to reach nearby malls.
The operation was allegedly part of a crackdown to clear illegal structures, a practice frequently employed in Nairobi's urban governance to regulate street trading.
The affected businesses included butcheries, electronics shops, clothing stores, vegetable stalls, fish markets, and snack vendors.
One of the vendors revealed that the demolitions had cost him Ksh10 million after he had invested in acquiring structures that he had converted into butcheries.
Chaos unfolded as traders scrambled to recover what they could from the rubble left behind by the demolition. Many armed themselves with sticks to defend their goods from opportunistic thieves attempting to loot the remnants of their shops.
Confrontations broke out between property owners and looters, heightening tension and insecurity in the area.
The scene also attracted scrap metal dealers, who seized the opportunity to collect unattended metal from the destroyed structures.
This incident highlights the ongoing challenges of balancing urban planning and the livelihoods of informal traders in Nairobi. Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja has numerously revealed that he has plans to settle informal traders in the city.
