The video captured the mother pleading loudly for the release of her child and the return of her business goods.
The incident occurred in the Central Business District (CBD) as the woman, a street vendor, argued that hawking was her only means of income.
In the video, the woman is seen shouting at Nairobi county officers while her young child can be heard crying inside the vehicle, peering through the window.
Dressed in a blue head wrap, the mother angrily protested, explaining that the authorities had taken both her stock and her child.
She emphasized that her hawking business was essential for feeding her family.
“They should give me back my job and my child and they will never see me again,” the woman said, as she continued to demand the release of her child from the locked truck.
A large crowd soon gathered around the Kanjo truck, with onlookers demanding that the officers release the child.
Tensions rose as one bystander threatened to damage the vehicle, shouting, “We are not going anywhere. Let the kid out bana.”
The situation grew increasingly intense, but eventually, one of the officers opened the truck, allowing the child to be freed after the mother had fled the scene.
The incident sparked a heated response from Geoffrey Mosiria, Nairobi’s Chief Officer of Environment.
Mosiria defended the actions of the officers, stating that the city’s authorities could not allow disorder to continue under the guise of hawking.
He suggested that some hawkers resort to tactics such as using children or persons with disabilities to garner public sympathy and justify illegal trading in the CBD.
Mosiria expressed that the viral video was part of such manipulation.
This controversy comes after the Nairobi County government issued a new directive in January banning hawking in most areas of the CBD, except for specific locations and times.
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