Francis Atwoli used Labour Day to push a different kind of workers’ agenda, urging President William Ruto to join forces with Nairobi County and restore order on the capital’s streets.
The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) boss said hawkers, matatus, and boda boda riders now dominate main roads and gateways such as Mombasa Road, giving visitors “the picture of the poverty of Kenya.”
“This city must reflect other cities of the world like Accra, Abuja, Abidjan, and Kigali. We cannot remain in a filthy city, a city filled with hawkers, riders, and matatus. When somebody arrives at the JKIA airport on Mombasa Road is full of hawkers, depicting the picture of the poverty of Kenya,” Atwoli told thousands gathered at Uhuru Gardens.
He called on State House and City Hall to tighten regulation, arguing that previous crackdowns under Governor Johnson Sakaja have been too sporadic to work.
The President, sharing the dais with Atwoli, acknowledged the criticism. “I agree with Atwoli that the city of Nairobi is the face of Kenya, and we must live in a city that has dignity,” he said.
Ruto outlined ongoing joint projects – link roads, pedestrian walkways, and the ClimateWorx clean-up of major highways and the Nairobi River – aimed at giving the capital “motorable walkways and decent roads” even in informal settlements.
A long-running fight over Nairobi’s image
Atwoli has made similar pleas before, lamenting that unchecked street trade and chaotic public transport keep Nairobi from matching cleaner African capitals. Business owners complain the same issues deter investment and foot traffic in the central business district.
County officials periodically seize handcarts and redirect PSV (matatu) routes, yet the measures rarely last. Traders, many pushed out of formal work by job scarcity and rising costs, return almost overnight.
This is not the first time a promise has been made to restore Nairobi’s image. It remains to be seen whether anything will happen now.
