Kisumu City Manager Michael Abala Wanga has banned vendors within the Central Business District. He said this decision has been taken to enable traders to move into the now-completed Uhuru Business Park and 12 other modern markets within the City. He said although the City management has changed its strategies and will not be confiscating goods from vendors, those failing to adhere to the ban will face arrests and heavy fines.
Speaking during a meeting with the City inspectorate officials, Mr. Wanga also warned those keeping livestock in estates that animals found loitering within the City will be confiscated and their owners fined Ksh 1,000 for each animal.
He told the inspectorate team to also conduct regular patrols along the airport road to stop animals from destroying tree seedlings planted along the Airport Corridor as part of the city greening program. The city’s traffic marshalls will also help control of traffic within the CBD.
“The Kamas and Ahero Mowuok stages will be dismantled to help bring sanity to the traffic flow,” said the City Manager. Mr Wanga also announced that the Street Families menace in the CBD will be fully handled by January 15 this year, especially in areas around Oile and Taifa public parks. He said the street families had become a security risk to those planning to use the parks for recreation.
He also put owners of cane-hauling trailers on notice, saying they would have to pay a new tax to help clear the garbage of cane spilled on the roads. “Sugarcane trucks will pay at least Ksh. 10,000 which to facilitate the cleaning of the sugarcane waste left on the road’. The City Manager asked traders who had placed their stalls on top of drainages to remove them. This also applies to traders running stalls outside the Jubilee market and the bus park without approvals.
He advised Kibuye traders who are utilizing the space meant for the second phase of construction work of the Market to only put up wooden stalls so that by June this year when work starts they don’t obstruct the process.