Nakuru Street Traders and Hawkers Association has called on Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui to respect interim court orders issued against the allocation of stalls at the Nasher Market.
This is after Lobby group ‘Friends of Devolution Nakuru County’ raised alarm over an alleged plan of illegal allocation of stalls at the Upper Decker of the Market despite a court restraining county government from allocating the stalls.
Petitioners Simon Sangale Nasieku and two others had in 2014 moved to court petitioning the county government of Nakuru seeking restrained allocation of stalls at the Upper Nasher Market until the matter raised in court is heard and determined.
And on October 5, 2020, Nakuru High Court Judge Prof Joel Ngugi upon hearing both counsels for the petitioners and the respondents issued interim orders restraining the county government of Nakuru from allocating 700 stalls at the Nasher Market until further directions.
Justice Ngugi further ordered that directions on hearing of the case filed by the Petitioners Simon Sangale Nasieku and two others will be on October 26, 2020, via zoom.
And in a letter dated October 5, 2020, seen by this writer, Konosi and Company Advocates informs the Nakuru County Attorney of the court development that the county government is restrained from allocating 700 stalls at the Nasher Market until further directions.
“In the meantime, the court issued interim orders restraining you (the county) from allocating any portion of the 700 stalls situated at upper Nasher Market until further order by the court,” reads part of the letter.
Nakuru Street Traders and Hawkers Association Chairman Simon Nasieku says their eviction in 2015 from Nakuru CBD affected 3,000 Street Traders and Hawkers.
He, however, states that 411 have never been settled up to now but with the court process he believes justice will prevail.
“We have had a court battle and recently High Court Judge Joel Ngugi issued interim orders restraining the county government from allocating the stalls at upper Nasher Market,” said Nasieku.
However, things seem to go a different direction after it emerged that there are planned illegal invasion of the Nasher Square Market upper deck by hooligans in contravention of the court order.
This is according to a letter dated October 14, 2020 undersigned by Friends of Devolution Nakuru County Chairman Joseph Benson Kamau.
The Lobby though the letter received by Nakuru County CECM for Trade, Tourism and Cooperative Development Raymond Komen as well as Nakuru East Sub-county Police Commander, has condemned the move terming it contravening court order.
“It has come to our attention that there is an illegal scheme by some unknown hooligans to illegally occupy upper deck of Nasher Square Market despite a court order restraining the same” reads part of the letter.
Friends of Devolution Nakuru County through the letter argues that “Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui is on record promising full settlement and compensation of the 2015 victims of evictions by the then county government however this has not been done up to now.”
According to the Lobby, any current attempt to illegally settle any trader in the space without first considering the victims amounts to a violation of the constitutional social-economic rights and betrayal as promised by Governor Kinyanjui.
“Kinyanjui should move with speed and put measures to safeguard the upper deck of Nasher Square Market until the genuine small traders evicted in 2015 are fully settled as per the court order” reads the letter.
Sentiments echoed by Nakuru Street Traders and Hawkers Association Chairman Simon Nasieku.
He has called on security agents in Nakuru and the county government of Nakuru to ensure no hooligan steps in the upper Nasher Market stalls as that will be a violation of court order.
“We have received a letter from Friends of devolution raising alarm on the illegal invasion of upper decker of Nasher Market. We call on security agencies in Nakuru to be alert and avert such violation of court order” said Nasieku.