Nairobi MCAs differ with City Hall on estate parking
Nairobi MCAs have broken ranks with City Hall and Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) over plans to widen the parking fee net to estates.
The move by the Assembly comes amidst opposition from various stakeholders in the capital with the Kenya Alliance of Residents Associations vowing to make use of every legal option at its disposal to ensure no parking fees are collected from estates.
Opposing the planned move, Nairobi County Assembly Budget and Appropriations committee chairperson, Robert Mbatia, said the Assembly is the only entity mandated to determine where fees are to be charged.
And as such, said the Kariobangi South MCA, any attempt to collect parking fees for vehicles parked in residential areas is illegal and not anchored in legislation from the Assembly.
He explained that power over revenue collection by county governments is domiciled in Section 133 of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012, but that the Assembly is required to approve a Finance Bill to sanction any such moves.
Mr Mbatia then cited various laws the Assembly has enacted towards levies and fees imposed by City Hall, with Finance Bill, 2018 being the last by the Assembly. Subsequent Finance Bills, he said, have neither been assented to nor published in the Kenya Gazette.
“The committee hence wishes to clarify that any attempt to collect parking fees for vehicles parked in residential areas is illegal and not backed by any legislation from the County Assembly,” he said yesterday.
Currently, Nairobi motorists pay a daily street parking fee of Sh200 in the city centre while other areas outside the city centre attract a charge of Sh100.
The Sh200 fee is a stop-gap measure after the court thwarted plans by City Hall in December 2020 to increase the fee in the city centre to Sh400.
Last month, City Hall announced that it is working on a new policy, Nairobi City County Draft Parking Policy, that will see introduction of time-based parking fee charges for both on-street and off-street parking across the county.
This will see an introduction of hourly charges ranging between Sh40 and Sh100 as part of the Ann Kananu-led administration’s plan to boost parking revenue. BY DAILY NATION
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