Isiolo Governor Mohamed Kuti ordered demolition of Miraa traders’ kiosks with an aim of evicting the business people from the populous Isiolo town, the Press Point has established.
And while the Governor dismissed reports that the directive came from him, our investigations show that the county enforcement officers who demolished the kiosks on Wednesday night were working under orders from the Municipality Manager Osman Halake and County Secretary Ahmed Galgalo.
According to sources, the cunning county boss opted to use the two senior officers to carry out the eviction to protect his name from the wrath of Ameru community which is among those with the highest number of voters.
In suspicious move, the county municipal officers who destroyed the kiosks with properties worth close to Sh3 million spared other kiosks adjacent to the area said to be owned by Borana traders.
And though the Miraa traders, who rely on the business to feed their families, cried foul over plans by the Kuti-led-government to completely flush them out of the town, the fact that the county did not issue them with notices or offer them alternative site to operate from clearly shows the intended motive.
In protest of the demolition, the irate traders on better part of Thursday morning barricaded the Isiolo-Moyale road halting transport along the stretch for some hours before normalcy resumed after police used teargas to disperse the crowd.
Later that day, in his usual dirty tricks, the Governor met some of the traders at the area opposite main bus stage and in his usual way of buying favour with money parted with Sh500, 000 which the traders shared amongst themselves.
Kuti then played innocent and promised that the issue would be looked into but did not authoritatively tell the traders where they would be relocated to, when and how because he actually has no plan for them.
The county boss has perfected well the divide and rule principle and has since the protests caused more divisions among the traders who intend to hold fresh elections later today (Saturday) as their officials have been compromised by the Governor.
“Our officials are compromised and are no longer representing our interests but their selfish agenda. We want to hold fresh elections,” said one of the Miraa sellers.
His government is well known for using weird eviction ways including torching traders’ kiosks during the night so that they leave without being asked to. The previous cases of kiosks in the town being torched have been carried out by the county enforcement officers together with police officers.
