The Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) has written to President William Ruto, expressing their dissatisfaction and frustrations over the Ksh4,000 Nairobi County packing fees.
In a statement , KTA revealed that a truck doing local deliveries within Nairobi earns roughly Ksh25,000 per trip per day, meaning the parking fee alone swallows 16 per cent of gross revenue before a single other cost is met.
“A truck engaged in local shunting within Nairobi charges, on average, KSh 25,000 per trip per day,” KTA said.
“A daily parking levy of KSh 4,000 consumes 16 per cent of gross revenue, before accounting for fuel, wages, maintenance, insurance, financing and other operating costs,” the association added.
KTA argued that the steep fee is producing the opposite effect because they are unable to absorb the cost and are turning to informal payments, such as bribes to enforcement officers, typically around Ksh1,000, none of which ever reaches county coffers.
“Compliance at this level becomes punitive, and transporters are effectively made to choose between survival and corruption,” KTA highlighted.
The association also raised concerns about cartels, saying the industry widely believes entrenched parking fee networks are operating in Nairobi, “bleeding county revenue while making life harder for law-abiding business owners trying to stay legitimate”.
KTA terms the Ksh4,000 price unfair, while comparing it to counties like Kiambu, which charges Ksh400, Mombasa, Ksh700, Eldoret and Nakuru, Ksh500 each, and Bungoma, just Ksh300.
According to the association, the transport sector is already facing high operating costs, including rising fuel costs, thus Naiobi County should not impose punitive taxes on them.
The truck body further stated that transport businesses would remain viable and Nairobi would strengthen its competitiveness as a commercial hub.
With this, KTA makes it clear that it is ready to engage constructively with Nairobi County to support reforms that work for both government and private enterprise.
