Governor Johnson Sakaja receives The Nairobi Physical Addressing and Street Naming System at his office in City Hall on February 23, 2023.
Photo/Johnson Sakaja
Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja, on Friday, April 14, announced new parking rates for city motorists.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Sakaja's communication office clarified that the new car parking rates were presented for adoption and if agreed upon, motorists will pay Ksh100 in the first hour and Ksh50 for the subsequent hours.
"It is a proposed policy that will have to be discussed and ratified by the assembly," stated the source close to Sakaja.
The new parking rates will soon be effected across all designated parking lots in an effort by the Governor's administration to bolster revenue collection across the city.
An aerial view of a parking lot at Nairobi's Central Business District on Thursday, September 1, 2022.
Photo/Four Square
Nairobi County Chief Officer of Mobility Boniface Nyamu had earlier stated that new rates will most likely take effect in the next financial year, 2023/2024, which begins in July 2023.
“We have seen that, especially in CBD, the demand for parking is higher than the supply. In the next financial bill, we have proposed to increase the amount of money one pays for parking.
"We will be billing hourly meaning that the more you stay in CBD, the more you pay. This will increase the parking revenue and discourage congestion,” Mr Nyamu stated.
Nyamu, who presented to the Transport and Public Works Committee at City Hall, noted that the new parking rates will be implemented with due consideration of the city's economic situation.
However, the proposal was immediately challenged by Transport and Public Works Chairman Mark Ronaldo, who claimed that the policy will heap more pressure on Kenyans who are already heavily burdened.
“We do not want to be in a situation where someone takes us to court over the increase in the parking fees.
"We, therefore, suggest that we have a cap of Ksh400 a day for parking within the CBD because this has failed several times,” Ronaldo observed.
The public works chairman, the Member of the County Assembly for Umoja 1 Ward, also warned that the policy may not achieve the intended results should motorists stage a protest against it.
On his part, the County Director of Parking, Thomas Karatai, urged Governor Sakaja to ensure that all parking services are automated within the Central Business District.
Karatai noted that Machakos Country Park, City Park and Sunken car parks had great revenue generation potential due to the high numbers of vehicles on the lots.
“Due to the short time notice, we decided to push it to the next financial year. When you automate it and make it time-based where someone pays for some hours and gets out, then you will increase the revenue,” Karatai stated.
Motorists will have to part with as high as Ksh500 per day or Ksh12,000 per month for drivers who report to work at 8 am and leave at 5 pm for five days.
Motorists in a rush-hour traffic jam along Uhuru Highway in Nairobi on October 17, 2019.
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