The High Court has ordered Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja and matatu operators to convene a meeting within 14 days with a view to solving a dispute over the re-location of long-distance matatus from the city's central business district to Green Park terminus.
Justice Hedwig Ong'undi on Monday, March 6, 2023, also ordered the governor and the 35 matatu Saccos to file a report in court before March 20 on the outcome of the meeting.
She further ordered maintenance of the status quo pending the resolution of the dispute.
The judge issued the directive two months after Governor Sakaja appeared in court and explained his willingness to have the matter settled out of court and explained the dispute about the relocation of the matatus from the CBD.
"From what I am hearing, one of the parties is not presenting the true picture on the ground and this court cannot supervise the movement of buses and matatus in town.
"The governor appeared in this court and expressed his willingness to settle this matter. I will therefore not allow the unwilling party or parties to drag this any further," Justice Ong'undi stated.
She also noted that she will not give any directions on the case since there is a similar case touching on the same dispute and is pending determination before Justice Antony Mrima.
"I will also wish to look at the two files brought to my attention. I, therefore, allow parties 14 days to go back to the drawing board and agree on the way forward.
"A report is filed on or before March 20, 2023. In the meantime the status quo remains until then," the judge said.
The case will be mentioned on March 23.
Sakaja's order
The legal dispute started in November last year after the Nairobi county government issued a public notice for relocation of picking and dropping points of passengers from the CBD to Green park terminus.
The affected matatu Saccos included North Rift Luxury Shuttle, Madaraka Prestige, Transline, Great Rift Shuttle, Legacy Luxury, Kina 2015 Classic, Sasaline Classic Shuttle, Blue line, Team Swat, and Transliner Galaxy.
They operate between Nairobi and Nyanza, Western, North Rift, South Rift, and Central Rift regions.
In their court papers, the matatu operators claim that the county government directive was illegal, unconstitutional, and unfair for them to be evicted from the city centre where they had been operating for many years.
Through Lawyer Wycliffe Omayio, they claim that on November 18 last year Sakaja informed them that they will move from their current locations to the new terminus beginning December 1, 2022.
Omayio said the decision was discriminatory and the affected Saccos were excluded in decision making.
He further claimed that the relocation will expose the said Saccos to huge losses and inconvenience long-distance travelers.
