Nairobi County Economy Affected by the Closure of Shops in Eastleigh

Businesses in the Eastleigh Area of Nairobi have indefinitely closed following a clash over working space with hawkers on Wednesday.

This is after a Nairobi court issued a directive that hawkers operating in Eastleigh area not to be evicted until when they will be allocated a designated operating area.

#EastleighClosure All Shopping Malls in Eastleigh closed indefinitely in protest against illegal structures being put up in front of malls. pic.twitter.com/qh68rvmkLB

— Ahmed Mohamed (@asmali77) March 2, 2017

With closure of business in the area, this means that there will be a lot of losses being experienced both by the traders and the Kenyan economy at large. This is because it is estimated that Eastleigh hosts investments worth billions of shillings and contributes at least 30 percent of taxes collected by Nairobi County.

Currently, businesses have had great improvements economically with the construction of roads along the streets in which the malls are located. This space is which both mall owners and hawkers are in conflict with.

The Eastleigh Hawkers Association had moved to court so as to stop the County Government of Nairobi from evicting them from operating in Eastleigh Avenue 1 and 2. This are the areas where the hawkers have been operating from as they wait for a designated area for them to move to. The association argued in court that by being moved out of the lace, they will have no other way of carrying out their businesses in which they depend on to make ends meet.

On the other hand, mall traders accused hawkers of obstructing their businesses by putting up shades by the roadside and displaying their goods right outside the malls, therefore preventing potential customers from accessing their shops which in the end hurts their businesses.

Late last year, there was also another clash between mall owners and hawkers over the same issue which made businesses to come to a standstill as mall owners closed shops. The hawkers say it’s unfair to evict them and criticized mall owners who closed their premises protesting against them.