City Hall doubles car parking fees in CBD
Parking fee within the Nairobi central business district (CBD) and Kijabe Street has been doubled to Sh400 from tomorrow. Both the CBD and Kijabe are categorised as Zone I in the Nairobi County’s Finance Act, 2019.
The rates in Zone II remain the same at Sh200 per day and the zone includes Westlands, Upper Hill, Community, Ngara, Highridge, Industrial Area, Gigiri, Kilimani, Yaya Centre, Allsops, Mwiki, Dagoretti and Kawangware.
Zone II also includes Kangemi, South B and C, Nairobi West, Makadara, Buru Buru, Umoja, Lavington, Milimani, Hurlingham, Karen and Eastleigh.
The parking fee has, however, been reduced to Sh100 within all the commercial areas in the county that are not part of Zones I and II, while buses (non-matatu) will pay Sh1,000.
For seasonal tickets, private vehicle owners will pay Sh7,000 per month, Sh18,000 for every three months and Sh32,000 for six months. Annual tickets will cost Sh55,000 and a fee of Sh1,000 will be charged for loss of any ticket.
“This is to notify the general public that the finance Act 2019 was enacted into Law on September 25, 2019 and the new fees and charges are applicable starting December 4,” read the directive by the Director of Parking Services Tom Tinega (above).
The Nairobi City County had said the revised rates were aimed at reversing the drop in revenue and decongesting the CBD. City hall said traffic jam was costing the city Sh37 billion in fuel and lost man hours annually.
The county collects most of its revenue from parking fees, about Sh2 billion annually. Last financial year, the county collected about Sh10 billion in internal revenue against a target of Sh15 billion. The previous year’s collection was Sh10.1 billion.
Shot down
In September last year, the county government proposed that the fee be increased to a uniform Sh400 but the proposal was shot down by MCAs.
Though the county seeks to discourage motorists from using their vehicles, the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to decongest the CBD by giving Nairobians alternative mode of transport, has failed to take off.
Few months ago, the Transport ministry announced that the first batch of the buses had arrived at the Mombasa port.
Motorists, apart from feeling the pinch, are also faced with insecurity by cartels operating as parking boys. The county marshals have been accused of collecting the fees and doing very little to ensure that cars are not broken into or parts stolen.
