Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has asked the court to dismiss a case filed by Starehe MP Charles Njagua, popularly known as Jaguar, challenging his boda boda ban. He yesterday said the issues raised by Jaguar have already been litigated and conclusively determined by the court.
Sonko said the case is incompetent and fatally defective. He said High Court judge Joseph Onguto in October 2016 determined riders have no right to operate within the CBD. The suit Sonko is referring to and which was dismissed by the judge in February 2016, had been filed by City
Riders Sacco.
The judge ruled the riders failed to prove how their rights were violated when the county ordered them out of the CBD. The operators had sued the county after they were stopped from operating in the city by then Governor Evans Kidero in November 2015.
Sonko said presenting an issue that has already been resolved is an abuse of the court process. He said Jaguar has not demonstrated he has an arguable case. “This application is abstract, vague and fails to illustrate the legal and factual threshold for grant of the orders sought,” he said in court papers.Sonko said Section 118 (a) of the Traffic Act 403 of 2014 gives him powers to make laws and regulate taxicabs, and, by extension, boda bodas.
The county issued a notice on January 22, warning of hefty fines, arrest and long jail terms for riders found contravening the directive. In its notice, the government said riders will no longer access the central business district except those offering
Courier services.
Jaguar went to court arguing the directive was reached without consultation. The MP’s contention is the ban is curtailing the economic rights of many riders who rely on ferrying passengers to and from the CBD. He wants the court to overturn the county’s decision.