Nyeri County Governor Dr Mutahi Kahiga has postponed the planned relocation of all transport operations from the Nyeri Central Business District to pave the way for the establishment of a transition strategy.
Despite the High Court in Nyeri granting the county government the greenlight to transfer all Public Service Vehicles (PSV) to the Sh600 million Muthoni Kirima bus terminus by Friday, August 1, Dr Kahiga said that his administration has resolved to dialogue with the affected parties in order to ensure their peaceful and smooth relocation to the new bus park, which is located 1.5 kilometres from the heart of the town.
Speaking after a meeting with representatives of PSV operators at the Nyeri Cultural Centre, the governor said that they had agreed to constitute a 22-member committee, which will oversee the transition with the new transfer date expected to be announced on August 5.
“We have discussed various scenarios and agreed that there is a need to sit together and hold further consultations. This must be the rallying call that transition and relocation must be peaceful. It must not disrupt businesses and we hope to get into an amicable situation,” stated Dr. Kahiga.
Initially, transport operations were to be moved to the ultra-modern terminus in November last year in compliance with a directive issued by the County Executive in charge of Transport and Infrastructure, Eng. Abdi Hanif Hussein, but eight long-distance matatu operators moved to the High Court in Nyeri seeking orders to block the exercise on grounds that the county government had not conducted adequate public participation before effecting the order, as enshrined in the constitution.
They also argued that the order showed bias and discrimination in their place of business, given that they had been operating in the Nyeri CBD for 50 years and that the relocation to the new terminus, which held no business prospects, would undermine their right to a decent livelihood.
Further, they termed the order as a threat and an attempt to suppress their business goodwill, given that the county was pushing them to a new and unknown setup far from Nyeri CBD.
Nevertheless, the court dismissed the suit in June this year on the grounds it lacked merit. In his determination, Justice Kizito Magare stated the matatu operators had failed to demonstrate the manner in which the public participation sessions held by the county government on diverse dates between 2019 and 2025 and which their representatives had attended failed to meet the constitutional threshold.
He also noted that the matatu saccos had failed to demonstrate how the Executive Order by county government to relocate the operators from three bus termini within Nyeri CBD had discriminated against them.
On their part, the PSV operators expressed their commitment to work with the county government to ensure a smooth transition for all the stakeholders.
They also welcomed the decision to bring on board hawkers and short-distance operators to the dialogue table, arguing that it would quell the existing tension between the county government and their members over their removal from their old areas of operation.
“There has been a tug of war between us and the county government, but we have agreed to sit together as investors in the county in order to make our transition to the new work environment smooth and seamless,” stated Wilfred Kimotho, the Chairperson of the 4NTE Sacco.
On his part, Peter Theuri, the Chairman of Nyena Sacco, stated, “We have agreed to come up with a strategy that will foster a conducive environment for us business people to conduct our business and at the same time allow the government to continue collecting revenue from us without unnecessary conflict.”
By Wangari Mwangi and Daisy Mwanika
