A man hawkiing Panga and knive along a busy road/ AI ILLUSTRATEDA Kenyan content creator Naomi Kuria has raised concern over hawkers selling knives and pangas to motorists caught in traffic along Ngong Road.
She shared a video on social media in which she questioned the practice after encountering hawkers moving between vehicles with the items.
In the video, Kuria appeared startled as she described seeing hawkers carrying several uncovered knives and taking them to car windows to sell to motorists.
“Ngong Road, you guys need to be serious. What do you mean a hawker is selling a bunch of knives and they are not covered, and you are bringing them to the window, saying, ‘Madam, knife?’” she said.
She said she encountered another hawker selling pangas further along the road.
“Who needs a panga in Nairobi?” she asked, questioning why such tools were being sold directly to motorists in traffic.
“Guys, what is coming that we do not know about? The pangas are just there, freely exposed, and you find someone holding even five of them,” she said.
Naomi she did not consider the situation normal and suggested that knives should at least be covered when being sold.
“If you are selling a knife, let it be covered. And if you are selling a panga, first of all, why would you be hawking a panga?” she said.
Kuria argued that someone looking for a panga could buy one from a hardware shop rather than purchasing it from a hawker in traffic.
“If someone needs a panga, they can go to a hardware shop. Who has such an urgent need for a panga that they have to buy it in traffic?” she asked.
She also questioned the changing range of goods being sold by hawkers to motorists.
“Traffic is for peanuts, sweets, air fresheners and cloths for wiping cars,” she said.
The video has generated different reactions, with some people saying encounters involving openly carried knives and pangas can be unsettling.
Others defended hawkers, arguing that high shop rents and the need to earn a living have pushed traders to take their businesses to the streets.
Some of the discussions, however, centred on how potentially sharp items should be packaged and handled rather than whether hawkers should be allowed to earn a living through street trade.
The video has also drawn attention to the wider evolution of hawking in Kenya, where roadside traders have long used traffic and busy streets as places to find customers.
Hawking has been part of Nairobi's economy since the city's early years. Historical research shows that petty traders sold goods ranging from fruit and vegetables to clothing and other everyday items, with hawking becoming an important source of income for people who could not find formal employment.
Over the years, the range of products sold on the streets has expanded. Research on Nairobi's Central Business District has documented hawkers selling different categories of goods while moving between vehicles, on pavements and around bus stations.
