Efforts to tackle congestion in Nairobi’s city center have been revitalized, three years after a previous attempt to ease traffic flow failed. A recent meeting at Chatter Hall brought together key stakeholders, including matatu Sacco representatives, police officials, and county authorities, to discuss new measures aimed at reducing gridlock in the Central Business District (CBD).
The discussions focused on designating specific pick-up and drop-off points for matatus within the CBD. John Kibe, a Sacco representative, explained, “We meet regularly to deliberate on plans proposed by the county governor before implementation.” He highlighted that one of the primary topics of discussion was the strategy to eliminate unnecessary drop-off and pick-up points that contribute to traffic jams in the city center.
The new plan involves restricting matatus to designated locations for passenger drop-offs and requiring them to leave the city center within five minutes. One Sacco manager noted, “Only one matatu from each Sacco will be permitted to pick up passengers at a time. This approach aims to remove pick-up points that contribute to congestion.” However, the manager pointed out that there is no set timeline yet, as traffic and county officials are still finalizing a system to notify matatus outside the city center when it’s time to pick up passengers.
Matatu operators expressed cautious optimism about the plan, agreeing that its success could benefit all involved. They called for further discussions before making any final decisions.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja emphasized the importance of transforming the city, saying, “We must change our city, and there is no shortcut about that. Nairobi is not competing with Kisumu or any other city; we are competing with other international cities, and to achieve that, we have to make some changes.”
These efforts are in line with other city-wide initiatives, including relocating hawkers from the CBD to backstreet lanes and cleaning operations led by the governor and the county executive. Governor Sakaja has vowed to make Nairobi the cleanest city in Africa, saying, “Jiji la Nairobi litakuwa safi kabisa. It will become the cleanest city in Africa.”
