Nairobi’s Mosiria Hits Back At Babu Owino Over Hawkers In CBD
Nairobi’s Chief Officer for Environment, Geoffrey Mosiria, has retaliated against Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino.
This follows the contentious removal of hawkers from walkways in the Nairobi Central Business District.
Mosiria sparked popular outrage on June 27 when a video emerged showing the county official arguing with two orange hawkers near the National Archives in Nairobi’s central business district.
The clip shows a dramatic standoff between Mosiria and the hawkers, who refused to leave the public promenade despite the county government’s threat of stricter enforcement measures.
Following a barrage of criticism, Mosiria accused the Embakasi East legislator of using hawkers’ hardship as a political tool.
“There is nowhere in any city where poverty is used as a card to break the law,” Mosiria said on Monday.
“He (Babu Owino) is weaponising poverty when he knows if he were the governor, he wouldn’t allow hawkers to sell their goods anywhere.”
Today, in a continued effort to restore order in our city and curb illegal dumping, I led an operation to remove hawkers who had shifted from the CBD to the outer edges of Uhuru Park completely blocking both sides of the walkway.
— Geoffrey Mosiria (@HonMosiria) June 30, 2025
This move follows inciteful remarks made by the… pic.twitter.com/mwP5S2XmvW
Babu Owino had earlier supported hawkers in a blistering statement, claiming that the county government was profiling and harassing the urban poor.
“The poor are not poor by choice but by circumstance. Leaders should serve the people, not exploit their silence, and not weaponise poverty against them,” he wrote.
“Justice is not charity. Equality is not a favour. Dignity is not negotiable. Every decision you make echoes in the lives of those who have the least. Do not let it echo with suffering.”
The topic of hawkers has been problematic in Nairobi, with Governor Johnson Sakaja imposing a ban on hawking in the CBD in January 2025.
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Sakaja’s notification explicitly specified Moi Avenue, Haile Selassie Avenue, Kenneth Matiba Road, Latema Road, Ronald Ngala Street, Mfangano Street, Hakati Road, and River Road as hawker-free zones.
Hawkers were consequently prohibited from hawking their wares along the stretch from Tom Mboya Street to Kirinyaga Road, but months later, the restriction is still being enforced inconsistently.
The Nairobi County government, through Mosiria, has resumed its crackdown on hawking in undesignated places, with the most recent operation taking place on Monday, June 25.
According to the Chief Officer of Environment, the operation targeted hawkers who had relocated from the CBD to the outskirts of Uhuru Park, totally obstructing both sides of the pathway.
Nairobi’s Mosiria Hits Back At Babu Owino Over Hawkers In CBD
