Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja has met with the 14-year old Burundian hawker, who went viral following an altercation with a female county council officer that led to his peanuts being spilled on the ground.
Taking social media, Sakaja shared moments of their encounter. He also engaged the Burundian Ambassador to Kenya to discuss on safeguarding the minor as well as dealing with the child trafficking/hawking in the region.
This recent occurrence happened shortly following Sakaja’s efforts keep off hawkers and vendors from the streets in a bid to organise the city and ease congestion.
The young hawker, identified as Ndagire Renova opened up to the governor, revealing that he resides in Ndonyo, Dagoretti.
According to him, he travelled from Burundi to come to Kenya through the help of a well wisher, who requested him to pay Kshs2,000 monthly for a roof over his head.
“I told him where will I get the money? I then met a woman who gave me Kshs1,200 to start a business,” he said.
He also opened up on the viral incident saying that he wanted to serve a customer after being impounded but the kanjo officer did not listen to him
“Akaniambia twende nikupeleke kwa polisi. Nikamwambia ngoja kuna mtu amenipatia 50 nimpatie njugu,” he said
Sakaja also shared a statement detailing how the whole incident occurred. The county government said the 14-year old was hawking at Nairobi CBD contrary to the county’s hawking/vending guidelines.
Apparently, he had also been involved in similar cases before.
“Unfortunately when Ndagire was caught and the county officer impounded his goods the minor struggled for the bucket, spilling the contents on to the ground after the handle broke, something he has been reported to have previously done at Afya center and outside city market. A number of hawkers employ this tactic which naturally attracts sympathy and public outrage and further prevent their arrest,” the statement read.
After investigating the unfortunate incident involving Burundian minor Ndagire Renova whose items were spilt yesterday, I met him and later engaged Burundian Ambassador to Kenya to discuss safeguarding the minor as well as dealing with the child trafficking/hawking & beggar… pic.twitter.com/qoFNKMkYpS
— Sakaja Arthur Johnson (@SakajaJohnson) November 22, 2023