Traders and part of the residents of Muthurwa market in Nairobi have come out to defend Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja after nominated MCA Cecilia Wairimu accused the Governor of mistreatment and harassment.

The traders said that it is the MCA who had allegedly grabbed the public toilet and operated it as private business and following the cries of market traders at Muthurwa, the Nairobi county government repossessed the toilet and handed it over to the traders.

“MCA Cecilia is claiming that Governor Sakaja has taken her toilet away but we want to remind her that thus was a public toilet and we have a right to access the amenity but the MCA who was a member of our association in Muthurwa grabbed it and has been charging for its use. The toilet is not even well maintained in terms of cleanliness and now that the public toilet is reverted back to the public, she is accusing Sakaja of harassment,” Tabitha Wanjiru, a committee member of the Muthurwa traders association said.

According to the traders, Wairimu, who was nominated to the county assembly after working as a grassroots mobilizer during the last general elections has been mudslinging Sakaja for no reason and told her to concentrate on her MCA role not charging the public for the use of a public amenity which should be free of charge.

The traders said that it was their calls for the county government to give Muthurwa traders access to the toilet that now has turned the MCA against the governor and noted that the business fraternity in the market and other areas of the Nairobi Central Business District were fully in support of the current leadership under Governor Sakaja.

“For Cecilia to insinuate that Governor Sakaja is harassing her children who run the public toilet due to her ethnicity is wrong. The business people in the CBD are known, we are from central and Sakaja’s administration has been able to give us a conducive environment to work so Cecilia cannot put us against the governor,” Wanjiru said.

Cecilia addressed the media accusing Sakaja of witch hunt due to her grassroots mobilization prowess noting that the traders who were supporting Sakaja were not genuine traders. She claimed that her life was threatened and would hold the city governor liable should any misfortune befall her or her kins.

“As hustlers in Muthurwa we condemn the actions by Cecilia who despite being a member of the Muthurwa traders association, she allegedly took money from the group and defaulted on remittances. As a leader, she should return the group’s money since every association has rules and she should not use her position to default loans, grab public toilets and allow her children to insult other traders who are old enough to be their grand parents,” David Mwaniki said.

The traders told off the MCA noting that they are firmly behind Sakaja who was elected the governor and asked her to desist from mixing political battles she wants to wage with governor Sakaja and her obligations as an association member. They were also adamant that the public toilet is not a private venture and the county had acted in public interest to reposes the toilet and therefore the matter should not be politicised.