The environment agency said the three would be fined up to $40,000 (£32,000) or face a prison sentence of up to four years.

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) shared a photo of the three vendors clutching onto their plums, passion fruit and sugarcane packed in plastic bags:

https://twitter.com/NemaKenya/status/1229645556030615552

Kenyans online have defended the hawkers:

Giitwa Gichuki tweeted, "Though I do not sympathise with anyone using the banned bags, this is too low for you guys. Extremely low, bearing in mind that the unscrupulous dealers responsible for production and supplying the polythene bags in bulk are walking scot-free."

Onyango Ongoya questioned, "Where do you think those guys are gonna get 2-4mn and imprisoning them for 1-4 years will kill their families? You must be very proud of upholding the law by making an example with the small fish."

Samantha wrote, "This is low even for NEMA. NEMA can't do basic stuff like draft local trash separation and recycling policies for the public or even come up with plastic recycling plants but they can harass poor people lol. I struggle to see the use of NEMA."