This archive report was first published on 15 October 2019.
On October 3, 2019, Nairobi County's Director of Parking Services, Tom Tinega, announced a ban on public service vehicles (matatus) parking in petrol stations, citing safety concerns. The ban was intended to take effect immediately.
However, a spot check by The Standard on Sunday, October 6, 2019, revealed that multiple petrol stations across the city were still providing parking and other services to matatus, despite the ban. At Tom Mboya Street, one of the busiest termini in the city, droves of passengers waited inside the PSV waiting bays as matatus chaotically moved in and out of the station, dropping passengers as others filled up with different passengers.
Operators of long-distance PSVs told The Standard that they would find alternative parking zones for their vehicles if the county government enforced the ban. "We have offices in various locations across the city, and we can use those as alternative parking zones," said Edward Nyachochi, who works with Transline Sacco.
However, the ban is expected to affect the revenue of petrol stations and the county government. "Operating from this space is very costly," said an ENA Coach driver. "The petrol station collects over Shs 300,000 per month from all the saccos that park here, so if we move out we will save money. It is the petrol stations that will bear the toll," he added.
On Tuesday, October 8, 2019, Tinega clarified that the directive only affects PSVs using petrol stations as termini and not those that use the stations for overnight parking. The county government had delayed the enforcement of the ban to allow saccos time to make alternative arrangements for parking.
