•The new taxes are aimed at helping the Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja-led administration raise Sh19.8 billion in own-source revenue.
•On-street parking refers to available parking spaces for vehicles on a street within a designated area.
Image: FILE
Nairobi city county has proposed a raft of new charges for city motorists, as the country heads into a new financial year.
With the proposed fees captured in the Nairobi City County Finance Bill, 2023 (draft), motorists will have to dig deeper into their pockets in some packages, while on some select days, they will enjoy free parking and reduced charges.
The new taxes are aimed at helping Governor Johnson Sakaja's administration to raise Sh19.8 billion in own-source revenue for the next financial year.
To encourage business establishments to open during the weekend, City Hall has abolished all on-street parking fees.
The same will also be applied on public holidays.
Currently, motorists pay Sh200 daily for on-street and lot parking of small vehicles in and outside the CBD.
Governor Sakaja had earlier explained that the move will provide an opportunity for Nairobi residents to support businesses and accord them an opportunity to transact on the weekends, as well as attract more visitors to the CBD during weekends.
For areas around mosques in both Zone I and Zone II, motorists will enjoy free parking for two hours (12:30 pm to 2:30 pm) on Fridays only.
In April, Sakaja said the move will allow Muslims to go to mosque and pray without any obstacles. He also said that there will be no clamping at that time.
Zone I areas include Kijabe Street, Westlands, Upperhill, Community, Ngara, Highridge, Industrial Area, Gigiri, Kilimani, Yaya Centre, Milimani, Hurligham, Lavington, Karen, Eastleigh, Gikomba and Muthaiga.
Areas considered to be part of Zone II are on-street parking at commercial centres and county market parking that is not automated ( not included in Zone 1)
Revenue from parking fees is divided into four cluster streams.
They are on-street and off-street parking, public service vehicles seasonal tickets and loading zones for purposes of easy collection of revenue.
On-street parking refers to available parking spaces for vehicles on a street within a designated area.
Parking fee is one of the top own source revenue streams for Nairobi county.
Looking at the third quarter performance for FY 2022-23 from January to March, Sh619.9 million was collected in parking fees.
To boost the collection, motorists parking in Nairobi for at least an hour will start paying less in the next financial year.
Highlighted in the Nairobi City County Finance Bill 2023, motorists in Zone I and II areas will pay Sh100 for the first hour of parking.
Motorists who intend to stay longer will pay Sh50 for the subsequent hours they park in Zone I and Sh100 for Zone II.
In 2019, Nairobi MCAs passed a motion calling on the county government to introduce hourly parking charges for motorists in the city centre to cushion those parking for a short time.
The ward representatives said hourly parking charges would make paying for the service more attractive to Nairobi motorists hence more revenue for the county government with proper enforcement.
In July 2020 the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) began automating parking facilities in the county in preparation for the introduction of hourly parking in the CBD.
It said it had already automated Sunken Car Park, Nairobi Law Courts Parking, Desai Road and Machakos Bus Station in line with the directive by Former President Uhuru Kenyatta to have automated hourly car parking facilities in three areas in Nairobi.
Going further the proposed Finance Bill 2023 states that on-street parking in non-automated areas in Zone I parking is set to increase from Sh200 to Sh300 daily for saloon cars.
Vans and pick-ups will be charged Sh500 from Sh200, Lorry (up to 5 tons) and Minibus will have to part with Sh1,000 while Lorry carrying weight above 5 tons will pay Sh3,000 for parking.
Buses which are not Public Service Vehicles will pay Sh1,000 for parking for on-street parking in non-automated areas in zone one
For Zone II, Salon car drivers will enjoy low parking fees of Sh100 from Sh200 while charges for Vans and Pickups have increased from Sh200 to Sh300.
The lorry carrying weight up to 5 tons will pay Sh500 while those carrying tons above 5 tons will pay Sh2,000 for parking from the current Sh1,000.
Buses which are not PSV will enjoy Sh500 for parking which is a decrease from Sh1,000.
City Hall has also proposed charges for vehicles using parking slots for loading/offloading only.
Pick Ups will be charged Sh300 while the same type of vehicles and Trucks carrying between 3-5 tons will pay Sh500 daily.
Trailers will have to pay Sh1,500 to offload while lorry with over 5 tons will be required to pay Sh1000.
The Nairobi City County Finance Bil 2023 has however not been finalised by the county executive.
In Nairobi, council authorities have over the years faced a double challenge of congestion and revenue leaks perpetrated by cartels who took advantage of the chaos to profit.
A 2020 report by Nairobi County Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations committee laid bare how parking attendants are colluding with motorists to deny the county government billions of shillings.
The report revealed that Sh437,500 was lost every day from on-street parking alone, with many motorists parking in the city centre without paying any fee to City Hall.
A 2019 report by Nairobi Assembly Public Accounts Committee revealed that in the financial year ending June 30, 2017, a total of 1,305,440 vehicles parked in the 6,125 slots during the financial year but only 402,401, representing 31 per cent, paid for parking.
City Hall collected Sh1.55 billion in parking revenue in the financial year ended June 30, 2020, against a target of Sh2.8 billion. This represented a performance of 53 per cent.