The stalemate between transport operators and the Nyeri county government over a directive to relocate all transport operations to a new terminus 1.5 kilometers from the town entered its second day on Tuesday.
Matatu operators woke up to barricaded termini after the county government on Monday night blocked entrances to the three termini located within the Nyeri Central Business District with blocks of rocks in bid to stop the operators from accessing them.
However, that did not deter them as the drivers and the traders quickly cleared the way and proceeded to conduct normal business operations in the three termini located within the town.
Unlike Monday when travelers had no choice but to postpone their journey following the boycott matatu operators, today the vehicles were seen picking up and dropping off passengers as normal transport operations slowly resumed.
The drivers and traders who spoke to KNA have maintained that despite efforts by the county to frustrate them, they will not relocate to the ultra-modern Field Marshal Muthoni Kirima terminus.
They have also blamed the county government of economic sabotage by attempting to drive the Public Service Operators and the traders working within and around the termini out of business.
“The county government should know that the relocation of PSVs from the CBD will not only destabilize transport in the town, but it will also kill our businesses as traders and eventually kill Nyeri town.
It is hard to understand how experts working in the county have failed to see the amount of money they are going to lose in revenue from this disruption,” said Catherine Wangechi a fruit vendor operating in the Nyeri-Nyahuru terminus, famously known as the Upper town stage.
“First the county government should ensure that the business stalls in Muthoni Kirima terminus are occupied by traders as this will create human traffic.
That way, when the transport operators come in they will have passengers to ferry to different destinations. But they should not expect the transport industry will make the terminus busy because as it is, the bus park is busy only during market days,” stated Simon Kimaru, a driver working for Nyesuma Sacco.
In the initial plan, transport operations were to be move to the ultra-modern terminus in November 2024, in compliance with a directive issued by the County Executive in charge of Transport and Infrastructure, Eng Abdi Hanif Hussein.
But seven long distance matatu operators moved to the High Court in Nyeri seeking orders to block exercise on grounds that the county government had not conducted adequate public participation as enshrined in the constitution.
Nevertheless, the court dismissed the suite 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.
Kizito also noted that the matatu Saccos had failed to demonstrate how the Executive Order to relocate the operators from three bus termini within Nyeri CBD had discriminated against them.
He also directed the county government to relocate all transport operations from the Nyeri CBD by August 1.
Shortly after the court determination the county governor Dr. Mutahi Kahiga on July 31 extended an olive branch to the transport operators and invited them for a meeting, where both parties agreed to postpone the transfer to pave the way for a 22-member committee to establish a transition strategy.
During a follow up meeting that was held at the governor’s office on August 1 and which was chaired by the Deputy governor Warui Kinaniri, 17 members of committee comprising of representatives from the matatu and Sienta owners, the transport operators proposed that the county establishes the Muthoni Kirima as the fourth terminus.
They also proposed that three termini in the CBD remain operational, even as operations begin at Field Marshal Muthoni Kirima stage with new investors, further deepening the tiff between the county government and the operators.
“As operators we agreed that the three old terminus should not be closed down because that will affect other business within and around the three terminus. It is not just the supermarkets and the traders; with this new arrangement the county will lose a lot of revenue. So we urge the county to uphold the status quo. The three terminus should not be closed down,” said Reuben Ndonga, Vice chairman 2NK Sacco and a member of the special committee that had been formed to formulate a relocation strategy.
“It should however be noted that we are not calling for the Field Marshall Muthoni Kirima Terminus to be converted to a parking lot. What we are saying is that instead of closing the other three it should act as the fourth terminus. The county should invite new investors occupy it, that way Nyeri town is likely to develop faster because the county will collect more revenue. But the county will lose a lot by closing the three terminus,” stated Ndonga.
In an interview with KNA, the County Executive in Charge of Finance and Economic Planning, Robert Thuo noted that the impasse will not only interfere with livelihoods, but it will also disrupt the collection of own source revenue by county in the current financial year.
While making an appeal to the traders and the operators to obey the directive by the court, Thuo also expressed his disappointment that the Sh600 million investment may turn to a white elephant project, owing to under utilisation.
“Given that we are not doing well; it is critical that the Nyeri residents look at the matter in a very sober manner. My appeal is let the players come together, let the matatu players obey the court order and move, and lets us address any teething problems as they arise because the county government is not running away from it,” stated Thuo.
By Wangari Mwangi
