How have the movement restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the Novel Coronavirus affected fellow Nairobians? I decided to find out.

The night before embarking on this personal project, I reached out to fellow photographer Boniface Muthoni asking if he was interested in us shooting together. The plan was simple : walk, greet, talk, shoot. I’m so glad Boni took an interest because without him, I doubt I’d have done this. Thanks Boni!

The following takes place between 0613hrs and 1915hrs on Friday 15th May 2020.

Uptown Nairobi.

0613hrs along Tom Mboya Street, opposite Nairobi Fire Station. On any ordinary day, there’d be tens of matatus calling for passengers. The work-from-home directive has reduced the number of matatus and buses on Nairobi roads, adversely affecting the lives of those who earn a living from the industry.

John Paul is one such person. He used to work as a night shift tout, but since the curfew directive was given, feeding his wife and two children has become a struggle. Rent too isn’t easy to come by. John’s wife used to work in a club which has since closed because of the curfew restrictions, leaving her out of a job.

0625hrs at the Kenyatta Avenue – Kimathi Street intersection. Not sure where this gentleman was hurrying to – red mask, red bag – I hope he wasn’t red carded when he got there.

At City Market, we met Mary who sells the most beautiful flowers from Ol Kalou. A letter from the greenhouse allows her to be on the road during curfew hours, so that she can deliver fresh cut flowers to the market when it opens. The reduced demand for flowers means she hardly breaks even at the end of the day.

Koinange Street at 0649hrs. An otherwise busy street.

Downtown Nairobi.

It was definitely busier than uptown, but not in the usual energetic no-space-on-the-pavement-so-walk-alongside-cars way.

Ronald Ngala Street looking towards Tusker at 0714hrs.

Bus Station at 0723hrs. Fewer passenger numbers have forced bus companies to ground sections of their fleet.

We met Vanessa selling pineapples at the junction of Uyoma Street and Temple Road.

When she sold around 200 pineapples a day, Vanessa put aside a percentage of her profits towards school fees. She had plans to enrol in a food and nutrition course later this year. But with sales as low as only 50 pineapples a day, Vanessa has been forced to dip into her savings to live, putting her dream of joining college on hold.

Ronald Ngala Street’s Tusker, 0812hrs. Even on public holidays, Tusker usually has hundreds more pedestrians and vehicles.

Washing hands is now part of the security procedure before accessing many buildings in Nairobi.

With reduced access for motorised vehicles, Luthuli Avenue, the leading source of affordable consumer electronics in Nairobi, was recently turned into a pedestrian priority street.

Ambassadeur Stage, buses are fewer than usual.

The way many people wear their masks, you’d think covering your chin will protect you from Coronavirus.

Hand sanitisation and face masks are mandatory before boarding.

From CBD, Boni and I decided to visit Gikomba Market, the leading source of pre-owned clothes, shoes and household items in Kenya.

Thanks to our Media Council of Kenya accreditation, we were able to go past the roadblocks sealing off Eastleigh due to the cessation of movement directive.

Digo Road, 1005hrs.

Gikomba Market.

We found a sanitisation booth at the Meru Road entrance into Gikomba Market. Citizens were encouraged to walk through the booth before entering the market.

The first entrepreneur we spoke to was Douglas who sells men’s shoes.

May has always been a great month for business Douglas said, but not in 2020. With fewer people visiting the market, it is hard to take home a decent income or project when business will peak again.

Sarah too sells shoes at Gikomba Market.

Her clientele are mostly from outside Nairobi. They however cannot come to buy from her because of the Nairobi metropolitan cessation of movement directive. The mother of one says her food and rent have been the most affected by the reduced sales.

Meru Road, 1037hrs. Tarmac visibility would be a challenge even on public holidays.

Patrick has been carving curios since 1979! From his workshop near Gikomba Market, he has curved animals, dancers and other crafts that have made their way to homes and offices in over 100 countries.

With no tourists are coming into the country because of the closure of Kenya’s borders, the 69-year-old is now carving wooden cooking spoons because despite Covid-19, people must cook. Patrick’s is a great story of adapting with the times.

We found Abdallah selling delicious bitings outside Pumwani Riyadha Mosque at 1121hrs. These are mostly purchased by Muslims for consumption when breaking fast during Ramadhan.

His sisters do the cooking while Abdallah does the selling. Ordinarily, he would be selling these bitings in the evening. But curfew restrictions means he has to sell everything before 1900hrs.

We left the Gikomba area and walked back to Eastleigh where we’d parked our car.

We found police directing traffic at the General Waruinge / Muinami Streets roundabout.

From here, we crossed Nairobi and got to Waithaka to find our most inspiring story for the day.

Edwin the Innovator.

While his age-mates are on PS and data consuming activities, Edwin has a life-saving invention to his name!

Bombarded with hundreds of stories about the effects of Coronavirus and being at home after schools were closed in March because of the pandemic, the 17-year-old decided not to just sit back, but act.

Don’t vent, invent.

Working in partnership with his father, he designed and made a face guard that protects the wearer from virus droplets from an infected person.

After several hundred orders and his design being replicated by many, Edwin decided to refine his design and came up with the adjustable face shield.

Edwin’s new design allows the wearer to angle the face shield off the face without having to remove it.

Edwin’s adjustable face shield is currently in use at many health facilities around the country. Several have been donated to health centres, salons and barbershops in Waithaka.

Edwin and his father have also developed body suits to be used by sanitisation personnel.

Curfew Beckons.

From Waithaka, we headed back to Nairobi’s CBD to catch the city emptying as the 1900hrs curfew hour approached.

Moi Avenue at 1708hrs. Friday traffic has never been so absent.

At Old Nation Matatu Terminus, matatus were few, just like the passengers.

Many were hurrying in and out of the CBD on their last squad for the day.

Near the Tulaga Stage, we found Jane hawking tomatoes to pedestrians.

She buys them from the Muthurwa Market to sell to customers in the CBD.

Stock that would take a day to sell now takes three days, with some tomatoes rotting because of the extra time it takes to find a buyer.

Outside the Nairobi Fire Station, we found Brian working hard and fast to make a sale at 1734hrs. He used to sell 15 pairs of shoes in a week. Now it’s down to four or five because fewer people are coming into town. He has never experienced such low levels of foot traffic during his 3 years in shoe sales.

As people and cars departed Nairobi’s CBD, the streets became quieter. Storm clouds had sent signals that they wanted to rehydrate Nairobi so many were really rushing home to beat the rain and curfew.

Sarova Stanley, 1750hrs.

As Boni and I reflected on the stories we’d captured for the day, we looked forward to shooting some long exposures after dark. So we set up our tripods along Kimathi Street and concluded we were ready to take our last shots for the day.

Jumping into conclusions didn’t work as we didn’t capture anything interesting. We decided to continue shooting handheld, making good use of the available light.

I noticed a good number of boda bodas hurrying on their last trips for the day, so I decided to pan away with them.

Kenyatta Avenue, 1812hrs.

The Kenyatta Avenue / Kimathi Street junction is one of my favourite to photograph at in Nairobi. The mix of modern and historic architecture provides a great backdrop to the busyness that characterises this intersection. But it was very quiet and didn’t have any action that was interesting to the eye.

So we moved to the Accra Road / Tom Mboya Street junction where we received a spectacular welcome, light showers providing a colourful reflective carpet on the tarmac.

At 1839hrs, the touts of this Embassava matatu were calling for their last passengers for the day.

Social distancing was being practiced on the inside, with only two and not four passengers per row.

No captions are necessary for the next couple of images.

Luthuli Avenue, 1907hrs.

At 1915hrs, I took my last shot and called it a day. The rain was beating down on us and we were tired after spending most of the day on our feet.

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Thanks.