'Upper Deck silliness': David Ndii blasts Governor Sakaja over crackdown on smokie-mayai vendors

Taking to X, formerly Twitter on Wednesday, Ndii in his usual blunt nature faulted the county boss for the directive saying his leadership was not a reflection of the 'Hustler Narrative' championed by President Ruto's Kenya Kwanza government under which Sakaja was elected.

Ndii slammed Sakaja and his deputy James Muchiri for the manner in which county askaris roughed up the hawkers leaving them stranded and their goods strewn on the streets. 

He went ahead to call Sakaja out by posting a screenshot of the Governor's manifesto dubbed ‘City of Order and Dignity’ highlighting a pillar where the latter promised to build 20 markets for hawkers.

“The Nairobi County leadership is not hustler-friendly. That's why I keep prodding @SakajaJohnson on it. Sakaja runs on an “order” platform. His plan was to put hustlers in markets— which is #UpperDeck silliness. Street vendors are on streets because that’s where customers are,” Ndii stated.

In widely circulated images that have attracted condemnation across social media platforms, county law enforcers were captured forcefully evicting street hawkers with vandalised smokie-mayai trollies scattered on the streets with even eggs and smokies thrown all over the pavement,  as the owners watched helplessly.

The move comes as the county government launched a crackdown on hawkers who have infiltrated the streets of the Central Business District, even as it looks to raise more money through revenue collection.

Government Sakaja's administration recently increased taxes in a number of revenue streams, in tandem with the national government which has also increased taxes lately, much to the dismay of the common mwananchi.