There were chaos in Nairobi Central Business District on Friday, June 13, 2025, when angry hawkers burnt a Nairobi City County vehicle near Afya Centre.
The van was first overturned and set on fire near following confrontation.
Police officers were forced to fire teargas canisters to disperse the irate mob.
The chaos, happening at the heart of the city, unfolded after the hawkers and county askaris reportedly engaged in a standoff.
The county officials had tried to push the traders out of the streets in vain.
Shop owners have been complaining of obstruction from the defiant hawkers and sought the intervention of the county officials.
This prompted an operation to push the group off the streets to designated areas.
But they started to complain of harassment from the county officials before it degenerated to chaos.
The hawkers attacked the county officials with stones chasing them. It was then they came across a vehicle that had been parked on the road side and descended on it.
They first stoned the vehicle before they overturned it and set it on fire.
The chaos went on forcing shop owners to close their businesses. It came a day after Thursday’s chaos where several property were looted in a surprise protest in Nairobi over the killing of Albert Ojwang.
Confrontations between city county askaris, otherwise known as kanjo, and hawkers who, on most occasions, operate unlawfully within the city centre are common. However, most of the time, the scenario is characterised by running battles between the two groups, with hawkers aiming to avoid arrest.
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