Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko was on Thursday forced to act quickly after the Matatu Welfare Association (MWA) filed a suit against him at the High court.
Governr Sonko held talks with the leaders of the association and assured them that he would address their grievances, leaving the court case to hung in the balance.
MWA Chairman Dickson Mbugua told Kenyans.co.ke that he and his team had since retreated to discuss the deal offered by the Governor before deciding on the fate of the case.
"We had already filed the suit at the High Court seeking to have the governor's plan to move our terminals nullified but the governor called us for a meeting today (Thursday) and he promised to listen to our plight.
[caption caption="Matatu Welfare Association (MWA) Chairman Dickson Mbugua "]
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"As for the case, I and my team will need to meet then decide on the way forward even as we wait for the governor to fulfil his end," Mbugua stated.
In court papers, MWA had argued that the new termini assigned by the county government were filled with potholes and were too small to accommodate the half of the SACCOs.
"The termini the Nairobi County government intends to relocate PSVs to are totally inhabitable and impractical to utilize given their current state, and as such, it is paramount that the sued party holds the relocation until all stakeholders have taken part or the new areas are renovated to fit the purpose," stated the lawyer representing MWA, Joseph Angwenyi.
In a circular issued by the Nairobi county government in 2017, Governor Sonko directed the implementation of a gazette notice barring all public service vehicles carrying more than 60 passengers would be barred from entering the Central Business District (CBD).
The Gazette notice had redirected all the matatus to Fig Tree terminus A, Muranga Road (Fig Tree) terminus B, Railways terminus and Muthurwa Market.
High capacity vehicles from upcountry regions would be directed to the Machakos Country bus station in the drastic overhaul.
The county government had justified the changes with the argument that it would decongest the CBD and reduce traffic snarl-ups within the city.
[caption caption="File image of matatus in the Nairobi CBD"]
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