Governor Sonko turns heat on Nairobi grabbers

Nairobi  Governor Mike Sonko. [File, Standard]

The Nairobi County Government has stepped up campaigns to reclaim grabbed public parking bays.

Most of the grabbing has occurred in the Central Business District (CBD).

The County Government repossessed more than 200 public parking slots within the CBD over the last month.

Governor Mike Sonko has put on notice land grabbers, warning that buildings on such land will be demolished.

“We have no room for land grabbers and my administration will not relent on its quest to reclaim grabbed public land as promised during the elections,” Mr Sonko said.

County Government Director for Parking Tom Tinega said they aimed to increase the number of parking slots in the CBD. His department is targeting more than 50 grabbed bays.

Among the parking bays so far repossessed by the county government is one between Nyayo House and the Intercontinental Hotel.

Another one is along Haile Selassie Avenue next to Shell petrol station, where the grabber had installed parking payment machines. “We want to warn the grabbers that we won’t entertain impunity,” said Mr Tinega. Last August Sonko repossessed a public land in Gigiri area next to the UN headquarters.