More than 50 structures on a road reserve on Mombasa-Mazeras highway were on Tuesday demolished by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA).
Mr Thomas Karisa, a local resident, said the officials gave them a half-hour notice to secure their belongings before the bulldozer flattened the structures.
“This is really inhumane, where are we to get our daily bread? There is nothing I have saved. This is the only investment I had and now it is gone,” said Mr Karisa.
More than 100 traders watched helplessly as the bulldozers crushed their premises with police officers offering protection.
The KeNHA team conducting the demolitions, however, was not allowed to speak to the media.
Ms Amida Namale, a mother of three children and the family’s sole breadwinner, pleaded with the authorities to spare her business in vain.
“I am shocked. We never got any notice and I have been on this area for over a year. I had a cloth and textile shop, a hotel which were my only source of income.
We were okayed by the Kenya Railways officials and even the roads agency to put up temporary structures but today I have lost my all. Where will we go now?” she asked.
The traders want President Uhuru Kenyatta to help them find an alternative site to set up businesses.