•Currently, Sh200 is charged daily for on-street parking by motorists in the Central Business District; outside the city centre it is Sh100.
•Last year July , NMS announced possibility of having hourly car parking services after automating four parking facilities.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING’A
The Kenya Alliance of Residents Associations has opposed plans by City Hall to introduce parking fees in residential estates.
Chief executive officer Henry Ochieng on Thursday objected the move, noting that city residents are already over burdened by numerous taxes.
“Our attention is drawn to the move by the county government to collect parking fees from parking areas within various estates in Nairobi as a way of achieving the revenue collection targets. Kara strongly objects to this move as it is ill-timed, unjustifiable and insensitive to the economic hardship Kenyans are going through,” he said.
Under the Nairobi City County Draft Parking Policy, City Hall intends to provide parking for residents permits.
The policy was drafted by transport executive Mohammed Dagane.
Kara vowed to make use of every legal option at its disposal to ensure that no parking fees are collected from estate parkings.
"The county government should give more attention to ensuring that they get value for the taxes by improving service delivery as opposed to introducing measures that will only exacerbate the economic challenges faced by residents of Nairobi,”Ochieng noted.
Instead, the association has challenged City Hall and the Nairobi Metropolitan Services to address the issue of cartels colluding with some county officials to divert parking fees.
“We have already written to the Nairobi County Executive Committee Member for Finance and Planning demanding that the decision be rescinded with immediate effect," Ochieng added.
In 2019 , Nairobi MCAs called on the county government to introduce hourly charges for parking for motorists in the city centre to cushion them against increased parking fees.
They argued having hourly parking charges would make paying for the service more attractive to Nairobi motorists, hence more revenue for the county government with proper enforcement.
Last year July , NMS announced the possibility of having hourly car parking services after having automated four parking facilities in the capital.
Currently, Sh200 is charged daily for on-street parking by motorists in the Central Business district while other areas outside the city centre attract a charge of Sh100.
According to the policy, county officers shall regulate parking in the CBD and other areas around shopping centres from 8am to 8pm while in other regulated areas it will be 8am to 6pm.
Parking in the CBD (Kenyatta and Moi avenues) will be the most expensive as the county will charge Sh90 per hour.
Others places in the CBD also known as moderate areas will attract a fee of Sh75 per hour.
Off-street parking in the CBD will cost Sh100 per hour, while the remaining areas will attract a parking fee of Sh50 per hour.
Outside CBD, motorists will pay Sh40 per hour.
Edited by Henry Makori