'They're illegal!' Geoffrey Mosiria defends move to pull down signages on Nairobi streets

While speaking to Citizen Digital, Geoffrey Mosiria, the Chief Officer in charge of Environment in the county, said that the exercise was a lawful undertaking to get rid of some of the signages which he termed as 'illegal' and obstructive.

"These are illegal billboards erected on the walkways which are blocking people from walking freely in the streets," he told Citizen Digital.

"Some of them have not been paid for, so we were clearing all of them."

The clarification was after an avalanche of reactions from Kenyans online with many terming the exercise as vandalism and others calling out the county government for roaming the streets at night and illegally tampering with people's businesses.

In some of the videos doing rounds online, a group of young men, who comprise Governor Johnson Sakaja's city cleanup team, can be seen forcefully pulling down signages by using various methods which also include crude sticks and metal bars.

In some of the videos, the casual labourers can be seen using circular saws to cut through the steel holding up the signages.

Some of the signages which can be seen being pulled down include those of various small-scale shop owners, eateries, clothing outlets, fast food joints and mobile phone shops.

The exercise was carried out over the night of January 13 and majorly targeting shops along Tom Mboya street. Geoffrey Mosiria can also be seen inspecting the exercise.

Many Kenyans took to the internet early Tuesday morning to condemn the exercise, many terming it unfair and unnecessary.

Taking to X, poet Willie Oeba wrote, "A country that destroys but doesn’t build. Sakaja has ordered his City Hall goons to destroy signages in Nairobi CBD instead of have them removed ceremoniously. This is a rogue regime from the bottom up!"

He added, "Those establishments should mark any of those city hall hooligans & file for vandalism. Including @SakajaJohnson. I hear EU summit is coming to Kenya, so it’s a knee jerk reaction not principle of uberrima fides. If it’s unlawful to have the signages that people pay to the same government to have the up, then remove don’t vandalize."

X user @Wambugu also reacted, saying, "Absolutely disgraceful to see @SakajaJohnson leading the charge in destroying signages. This isn't governance; it's vandalism. Nairobi deserves better than this rogue behavior."

Overnight, Governor Sakaja Johnson took a hands-on approach to his mission of transforming the city’s cleanliness by leading a night-long cleaning exercise that extended into the early hours of Monday.

The county boss, who was accompanied by top county executives, joined over 3,500 members of the Green Army under the Department of Environment to restore Nairobi’s central business district (CBD).

“Let’s do this job with the seriousness it deserves. Let’s do it as if we’re doing it for God, not just because we’re being paid. We have no option. Nairobi must be clean this year. Let’s do this,” Sakaja said.

The cleaning campaign comes just three days after Governor Sakaja flagged off 24 new refuse compactors to support the city’s waste management efforts.