Sonko doubles city centre parking fees to Sh400

Parking fees in Nairobi will be doubled to Sh400 within the city centre if MCAs adopt the administration’s proposal to reverse the cutting of the rates last year.

The move will also see parking charges of Sh200 introduced in residential areas with motorists paying Sh300 at shopping and business hubs.

The hubs are listed as Upper Hill, Community, Westlands, Yaya Centre, Eastleigh, Industrial Area, Karen, Gigiri, Ngara and Hurlingham.

The rise is aimed at reversing the drop in Nairobi revenues and decongesting the Central Business District (CBD), says City Hall, adding that traffic jam is costing the city estimated Sh37 billion in fuel and lost man hours.

“The reduction in parking fees for street parking fees was the cornerstone of the amendments last year and has drastically reduced revenue collections from daily parking and increased congestion within the CBD,” said City Hall.

The county collected an estimated Sh10 billion in internal revenue against a target of Sh15 billion. The previous year’s collection was Sh10.1 billion.

The increased charges come a year after ward representatives shot down similar proposals last September and instead slashed it to Sh200.

The plans by the Mike Sonko-led administration to raise parking fees is not in tandem with his campaign promise of halving the charges to Sh150 from the then Sh300.

Parking fees is the biggest source of revenue for City Hall with collections of about Sh2 billion every year but corruption and collusion between parking attendants and motorists have denied the city administration the much needed millions of shillings it requires to fix many service lines.

City Hall has struggled to raise revenues needed to upgrade roads and clear garbage in a county that salaries gobble up more than 60 percent of its total income.

If adopted, the new charges will boost the county collections but make life harder for city motorists who are also grappling with increased cost of petrol and diesel.

A litre of petrol is retailing at Sh115 in Nairobi, up from Sh100.09 in February.

Parking fees for non-commercial buses and lorries will be Sh1,000 while trucks will pay Sh3,000 in the central business district and half the amount in the residential areas.

Those paying monthly tickets will part with Sh7,000 and Sh55,000 if they opt for annual permits.