Matatu saccos will from now only have a maximum of three vehicles in the CBD at a time, Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has directed.
Sacco managers have been given three months to look for alternative holding grounds from where they will dispatch their vehicles to the CBD. Matatu drivers will not be allowed to overlap, park on pavements or block entrances to shops as has been the case.
These are some of the strict conditions that came with the suspension of the ban on matatus from the city centre.
The suspension came a day after thousands of city commuters walked long distances to their destinations as the county effected the ban in a bid to decongest the city. Governor Sonko held a crisis meeting with a section of public service operators in his office yesterday morning.
Addressing journalists moments after meeting the governor, Association of Matatu Operators chairman Jamal Ibrahim said they were given three months to comply with the conditions set out by the county government or be kicked out of the city centre.
“From today, you are going to see a very big change in the way matatus operate in the CBD. We have realised that the government has the muscles to remove us from the CBD any time, and unless we comply, then we won’t have a place in Nairobi,” Jamal said.
He said they are going to deploy traffic marshals in all stages to ensure there are no gridlocks.
“The governor has agreed to help us get holding grounds outside the CBD. He has agreed to talk to Kenya Railways to give us some land as we also engage other private parties like Jamia Mosque to help, even if it is to pay, we are ready,” Jamal added.
In a statement to newsrooms, Sonko reiterated that he lifted the ban following the pain that commuters endured on Monday. “Many innocent commuters, including senior citizens and those with health challenges requiring emergency medical attention, expectant mothers and children traveling with their parents all suffered untold inconvenience and this is regrettable,” Sonko said.
He maintained that the directive was for a good cause to decongest CBD. The suspension, he said, will now give room for the county to consult various stakeholders on how to ease congestion downtown.
“Choking traffic gridlocks have negatively affected all the businesses in the county. These gridlocks have the impact of choking our social-economic growth,” he said.
Matatu Welfare Association chairman Dickson Mbugua, however, said Jamal is not a representative of matatu operators. He said only the Federation of Matatu Operators – the body bringing together all the six matatu associations – is authorised to talk on behalf of all the operators.
He accused the governor of not listening to their proposals and making unrealistic unilateral decisions.