Muthurwa market vendors call out ‘cartels’ taking their money
Traders at Muthurwa Market in Nairobi County, one of the busiest markets in the county, have complained of negligence on the part of the county government.
While addressing the Nairobi County Assembly’s Ad-Hoc Committee on Revenue, the Chairman of Muthurwa Hawkers Market, Mr Nelson Githaiga, lamented the lack of water and clean public toilets in the market.
He told the committee, chaired by Assembly Majority Leader Peter Imwatok Jateso, that traders at Muthurwa Market always pay their taxes on time.
However, they are yet to receive any services from the district where they pay their taxes.
The traders’ chairman also raised the issue of accountability in the government of Governor Johnson Sakaja, as market officials continue to collect money from them in cash, despite the governor saying that all services have been automated.
He also raised the issue of cartels collecting daily fees from them, with some claiming to be County officials with no way of proving it.
“We need clarity about the cartels in this market. Cartels versus accountability will be the issue. If we are talking about the cartels and we have not had any investigation that there are cartels in Muthurwa market that are taking the money, then we are not going to solve the problem. Accountability should be focused as the main challenge in this market,” said Mr Githaiga.
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The mode of collection of money also became an issue before the committee when traders said they had been paying the market fee in cash and were only given the option of using the paybill number if they did not have cash or if they requested to use the paybill number, which exposed the county officials.
“The mode of revenue collection in Muthurwa market should be focused on up to the point of depositing the cash, either to the electronic services or paybill to the county.”
According to traders, they are not sure whether the money they are charged between Sh50 and Sh150 daily ends up in the county accounts or is diverted and used as a scapegoat for ‘cartels’.
Some officials collected the money in cash, assuring the traders that they would pay into the system later.
In their defence, the county officials said most of the vendors do not have phones, or some who do have phones may not have money in Mpesa to transfer the fee to the paybill number, leaving the collectors with no option but to take the cash, which is recorded in the system.