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Governor Sakaja cancels KRA parking system


Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja has stripped off the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) from collecting parking payment made by motorists in Nairobi which will take effect on Friday.

Mr Sakaja said on Monday the devolved unit had severed links with the taxman regarding collection of levies reverting the function to its officials.

He said the role of revenue collection in Nairobi has been reverted to the county government from the national government, saying that KRA officials will no longer collect revenue. The duty will now be carried out by officers under the ticketing department.

Director of parking at the Nairobi City County Tom Tinega says they have finalised the new system, which disengages the one that currently links payment made by motorists to KRA.

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“We are finalising our systems and the public will be notified before the end of the week of the new short code that they will be using in paying for their parking fees,” said Mr Tinega.

Currently, motorists dial *647# for payment of parking fees, which is directly linked to the KRA account.

Mr Tinega said some of the reasons why they are disengaging KRA is that the process was marred with a lot of secrecy and they did not know how much was being collected.

“We were never allowed to know how the system was operating or even have a hint of how much had been collected in a day,” he said.

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Mr Sakaja said the decision to strip KRA of the role was informed by the fact that the taxman was not meeting set targets previously attained by county officials when they were in charge of that function.

Last year, while serving as Nairobi Senator, Mr Sakaja challenged a move by the Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) and the City County Government to charge parking fees in residential areas.

He said many Nairobians were already struggling to meet their daily needs, especially due to the effects of Covid-19 pandemic, which had deprived many of their income.

“The people of Nairobi are not cash cows. Don’t charge Nairobians parking fees in estates. We have given you enough resources to do perform your work,” said Sakaja.

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In March 2020, KRA took over the role with officers being given full and unlimited access to county revenue processes, information data and systems.

Mr Sakaja said in order for the city to provide top-notch services to its people, it will be divided into five boroughs namely; East, West, North, Central and South.

“Order in the city will be followed by everyone. No one will be above the law. For example, street lights must be obeyed by everyone,” stated Sakaja.

In his manifesto, Mr Sakaja said promised to build a city metro commuter light rail in order to decongest the CBD while preserving decency in the public transport sector. Sakaja and his deputy Njoroge Muchiri also promised to construct a city metro commuter light rail.