Sudden Changes

Part of what makes an African city, Africa, is all of the street vendors selling you everything from perfume to shoes to kleenexes. These income generating activities are not registered with the government but make up a large percentage of the income in West Africa. Wednesday night the President abruptly stopped these informal livelihoods and sent the police and army to clear the streets of the capital. No longer can the women in my neighborhood camp out and beg on the street and no longer can my friend sell bags of juice and yogurt outside the gate of the high-school. Why did this happen? I am not sure there is a good answer to explain ridding citizens of their hope to scrap by in life.