Matatu owners in Nairobi had vowed to defy Governor Mike Sonko’s ban on PSVs entering Nairobi central business district.
Speaking to the press, Matatu Owners Association (MOA) chair Simon Kimutai had declared that the vehicles would dock at their usual termini come Monday arguing that the county government’s proposed termini do not have the capacity to hold the 16,000 PSVs estimated to be operating in Nairobi daily.
The matatus association has however been served with a huge blow when they found a grid locked city that none could penetrate.
It was then that the Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja moved to court and filed a case to suspend the ban against Public Service Vehicles entering the city centre.
However , the Nairobi High Court Judge has refused to suspend a directive by the Nairobi county government that prohibits Public Service Vehicles from accessing the city centre.
Kenyans have asked City Hall to act quickly to alleviate the commuter suffering maintaining poor execution of the directive was counterproductive.
Politicians seeking to find a solution have aired their voices with some been said to use the situation to advance their political ambition while some have expressed their sincerity claiming the common mwananchi is affected.
Baringo senator has said the the unprecedented human gridlock witnessed in Nairobi following the ban of matatus from the Central Business District (CBD) can be solved if all transport stakeholders sat to find an amicable solution.
“Today we have witnessed commuters suffering after they were forced to trek for long distances to their places of work, small-scale traders incurring more costs ferrying their wares to the market, disruption of businesses and the old being stranded at drop off points with no alternative transport or anyone to assist them,” he said.
Moi now wants City Hall to introduce efficient and affordable shuttles to pick passengers from the designated bus termini and drop them in the CBD. “While we all look forward to a decongested city that reduces hours spent on the traffic jam, the Nairobi City County Government in collaboration with the National Government need to put in place proper plans for efficient and reliable transport system from matatu drop off points to the CBD,” he said.
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko’s administration has vowed to continue with the radical plan to decongest the city, maintaining that it is for the good of the residents. “As a county, we have spent millions of shillings to construct bus terminus and stages for matatus, it is time the structures are put into use,” Sonko told members of the county Public Accounts and Investment committee.