Several officers at Nairobi County are on the spot for allegedly opening parallel bank accounts to swindle parking fee.
It has emerged that the county through the finance department has created a parallel bank system that is allegedly hacked by the county parking staff under the guidance of Chief Officer Revenue Collection Wilson Njoroge Gakuya.
Gakuya.
A furious battle between Matatu Saccos and Gakuya has unearthed how the county is losing millions of shillings in revenue.
The dramatic battle that ensued on Wednesday day afternoon at City Hall’s finance department saw furious Matatu Sacco members, Members of County Assembly demand immediate release of the vehicles that had been impounded for alleged non-payment of seasonal parking fees.
Relying on a tip off from Matatu Sacco chairman Stephen Mbolonzi, journalists stormed Gakuya’s office only to find Nairobi MCAs together with the Matatu operators pleading with him to release the impounded vehicles which they claimed had been paid for.
They were shocked to learn that despite having paid, the details were not captured in the county’s automated system.
This raised eyebrows with the MCAs demanding to know where the payments were diverted to.
The Matatu operators even argued that they were ready to pay for a second time if that was what the county wanted.
“We bought these vehicles on loans and holding them is an injustice to us. These vehicles are our only source of income,” the Matatu Sacco chairperson Stephen Mbolonzi said.
This prompted MCAs drawn from the transport committee led by the chairperson Musango Maithya(Pipeline Ward) to demand for unconditional release of the vehicles.
“This is corruption of the highest order. Release the vehicles unconditionally,” he said.
Korogocho MCA Absalom Odhiambo also known as Matach said that this will be one of the biggest scandals in the County if not tamed now.
“We have to investigate as a committee and all Senior parking officials together with the finance department will have to explain how this is going on before the committee,” he said.
It emerged that the County through the finance department has created a parallel bank system that is allegedly hacked by the county parking staff under the guidance of Gakuya.
Nairobi has over 400 registered Saccos and around 30,000 Matatus operating within the city.
14-seater matatus pay a seasonal parking fee of Sh5,000 between the 6th and 24th of every month.
If paid between the 25th and 5th, the fee will be Sh3,650.
This means the matatu operators pay between Sh1,650 and Sh3,000 more, depending on when they make the payment.
Public Service Vehicles with 42 seats pay Sh.5,280 a month between 25th and 5th and Sh8,000 when paid between 6th and 24th. The increase is Sh1,630 and Sh4,350, respectively.
Buses with 62 seats pay Sh7,200 between 25th and 5th of every month, and Sh10,000 when paid between 6th and 24th. The increase for bus operators is Sh2,200 and Sh5,000, respectively.