Outrage over viral video of hawker's child locked inside kanjo vehicle

The Nairobi City Council is at the center of controversy after a viral video surfaced showing the child of a female hawker locked in a vehicle by county askaris.

The undated video, seen by Citizen Digital, begins after the city inspectorate and revenue collection employees, commonly known as kanjos, had already confiscated the hawker's merchandise, seemingly for illegal hawking.

It shows the merchandise, along with the child, inside the county vehicle, though it remains unclear whether the kanjos actually placed the child in the vehicle.

The child can be seen crying and screaming for her mother during the incident which took place on Tom Mboya Street.

Similarly, the female hawker is seen screaming at the top of her lungs, desperately demanding the release of both her stock and the child.

Her screams attract a crowd of pedestrians who gather around the vehicle, refusing to let it move until the child is freed.

During the commotion, the woman is seen arguing with a presumably city official whose face is not visible.

The official implies that the woman may have placed the child in the vehicle, possibly as a last-ditch effort to have her merchandise released.

“We ndiye umemweka (ndani ya gari),” the official can be heard saying.

At the end of the video, the child is taken out of the county vehicle by one of the officers.

Dear @SakajaJohnson, we know you don't give a f*ck about this county but what the hell is this? Why bundle a baby into this rusty tetanus-infested Kanjo tin? Why are we so inhumane sometimes? @HonMosiria, huyo mtoto ni takataka pia? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/AVTDiHUNZf— Juma G 🇰🇪 (@jumaf3) February 1, 2025