Lwang’ni, a popular eatery in Kisumu where locals and tourists throng to eat fish has been demolished.
Traders, who arrived at their premises adjacent on Wednesday morning, found their shops flattened following an eviction notice from Kenya Railways.
Bulldozers reportedly descended on the kiosks on Tuesday night and were still on site the next morning.
Fish traders affected are those whose eateries were on Akamba Line and Lwang’ni Beach adjacent to the shores of Lake Victoria.
Kenya Railways had warned that those who fail to comply with the eviction notice would be forcefully removed.
“You are therefore given one month notice to vacate your business out of Kenya Railways land to pave way for revitalisation, expansion and operation of the Kisumu Port,” the notice from KR acting managing director Philip Mainga reads.
The notice cited a short lease and temporary occupation license that said: “Either party may terminate this agreement/term of lease at any time during subsistence of the tenancy by giving one month notice in writing.”
Over the years, complaints of overpriced have rocked the lakeside city of Kisumu with Lwang’ni as one of the top spots for inflated prices of fish.
“We cannot lower our prices, people love our fish since its fresh. The imported one (Chinese) has been kept in the ice and it cannot measure up to ours,” said Grace Ongowe, a fish vendor told Citizen TV in a previous interview.
A ten kilogram carton of imported China fish goes for Ksh.1,800 while a ten kilogram carton of locally sourced fish retails at Ksh.3500.
