FINANCE ACT LANDS NAIROBI COUNTY IN COURT

Transport Users Association has sued Nairobi City County government over the recent Finance Act 2013 which was enacted without the stakeholders participation leading to the demonstration that rocked the city paralysing transport, hurting and harming transport users directly and indirectly.

In a sworn affidavit filed on July 11 2014 before the High Court in Nairobi, the association has named Nairobi City County as the first respondent, the national treasury and ministry of Transport as second and third respondents respectively.

The petition is drawn by Alice Jonathan Gulenywa  on behalf Ayub Hassan Backhet, the association’s vice chairman in which he states that the public’s consumer rights were violated by the Nairobi City County in enacting the bill in whose issues can only be discussed in the petition filed before the judicial review, constitutional and human rights registry.

“The issues discussed in the first, NCCA 2013/021/022/023/024/025 show how the Act was done in a hasty manner and did not invite public participation hence the public who is the consumer was locked out,” Backhet says in his affidavit. 

The association states that it is unprocedural for the county to hike the fees yet the city is untidy and there is urine smell with human waste as street boys mug those using pathways and alleys, a fact that it has not addressed.

 “Within the Act in para 6 (i), the Nairobi City County government has increased  the parking fees from Sh140 to Sh300 and other parking charges like the PSV have also shot up to Sh500 which is too high,” Backhet said.

“The respondents deliberately disregarded  and ignored the fact that enactment of the Nairobi City Finance Act 2013 would negatively affect the transport and production cost hence prejudicing the national economic policies, economic activities across the county boundaries, mobility of goods and services, capital and labour,” the association’s vice chairman  further states in his affidavit.

The association accuses Nairobi City County of not properly allocating land and other facilities causing congestion within the city county and forcing members of the public not to go about their activities with ease.