Nairobi City Council finds itself embroiled in controversy following the emergence of a viral video depicting a female hawker’s child locked inside a county vehicle by city enforcement officers.
The undated footage, shared by Citizen Digital, captures the scene after the city’s inspectorate and revenue collection agents, known as kanjos, had already seized the hawker’s goods, allegedly for illegal street vending.
In the video, both the merchandise and the distressed child are seen inside the county vehicle, though it remains uncertain if the kanjos were responsible for placing the child there.
The child is visibly upset, crying and calling out for her mother during the incident, which unfolded on Tom Mboya Street.
Meanwhile, the hawker is heard shouting frantically, pleading for the return of both her goods and her child.
Her cries draw a crowd of onlookers who gather around the vehicle, insisting it cannot leave until the child is released.
Amid the chaos, the woman is seen in a heated exchange with a city official, whose identity is obscured.
The official suggests that the woman might have put the child in the vehicle, possibly as a desperate measure to retrieve her confiscated items.
By the end of the video, one of the officers is seen removing the child from the county vehicle.
