Evans Kidero calls for an end to matatu strike before talks can kick off

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero addresses protesters outside Cirty Hall Wednesday morning. (Photo:Denis Okeyo/Standard)

By Isaac Meso

Nairobi, Kenya: Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero Wednesday said that he will not give in to blackmail from public service operators and that there will be no negotiation between his government and the operators until they call of their strike.

The governor noted that the county government was ready to listen to the issues raised by the operators but it will not be coerced to give in to demands made by them.

“We are not going to tolerate any threats from any one. We won’t have any talks with the officials from Matatu associations until they call off their strike” he said.

On his twitter account, Kidero reiterated that the operators had to clear the roads first before they could embark in dialogue.

“I have met with the public transport stakeholders and urged them to end the strike before we continue with talks. Inconvenience is regretted,” read Kidero's twitter post.

The operators claimed that Kidero had violated the agreement they had with him on Monday in which they had resolved that parking fee be reduced to Sh3,650 from Sh4,500 for 14 seater matatus and Sh5,500 from Sh8,000 for 44 seater.

“We feel betrayed by the governor that after having such a gentleman's agreement, he would again raise the parking fee back to Sh8,000 per month” said Mt Kenya Matatu Owners Association Chairman Michael Kariuki.

Kariuki together with his counterpart Simon Kimutai, Chairman Matatu Owners Association warned commuters that if the county government remains adamant in reducing the parking levy they will have to walk to work in the coming days as they would remain on strike until their issue is addressed.

Some of the major roads that remained blocked for the better part of We morning included, Jogoo, Ngong, Langata, Donholm and Mombasa roads, with police clearing some of the roads.

In a meeting held on Monday at City Hall the Public service operators met with County officials to deliberate on the amount they were to pay as parking levy.

Kariuki noted that during the meeting they had agreed to pay an interim fee of Sh3, 650 for a 14-seater, Sh4, 500 for a 42 seater and Sh7, 250 for a 45-seater .This was to be followed by further negotiations.

“We went to pay our parking levies after this meeting only to find that an official at the county government offices declined to accept the agreed payments,” said Mr Kariuki.

The parking levies are usually paid on monthly basis and each matatu is usually issued with a ticket to indicate that payment has been done.

Kariuki further said that Wednesday’s strike was just a demonstration of  what will happen when they call for the nationwide strike if the County  government does not respond to  its demands

Peter Kige, Chairman, Nairobi Metropolitan PSV Saccos Union said that the levies were a huge burden to them as they had to contend with other expenses like bank loans, salaries for their crew among others.