The old, rickety and rusty Nairobi City County pick-up trucks that have terrorised hawkers and city residents since the 1980s have finally been decommissioned.

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja yesterday permanently engaged the parking gear of the infamous vehicles that had become synonymous with the terror that County Inspectorate officers rained on city residents and hawkers, finally bringing the ignominious career of the Mitsubishi pick-ups to a screeching halt.

Speaking at the flagging off ceremony of 17 swanky Isuzu pick-up trucks yesterday, the Governor said the new fleet will help city county inspectors in their daily work and make their movements easier and more dignified.

The governor said part of his election manifesto was to bring dignity to the capital city, including the services provided by the inspectors.

“I must fulfill what I promised city residents. They will be served as customers. We said we want to give them dignity, but dignity starts with how we treat ourselves and how we treat you, the people of Nairobi,” said Sakaja.

His speech brought to an end the old era when the dilapidated vehicles double-parked randomly in city streets or routinely drove on the wrong side of the road in hot pursuit of offending motorists, hawkers and others who had flouted city bylaws.

“The other day I heard that you had apprehended people and the car got stuck, with prisoners inside. It’s a big embarrassment. I promise you that we will deal with them and phase them out. Very soon, you will not see them again,” Sakaja said.

Interestingly, the governor said his initial offer to scrap metal dealers to bid for the ancient vehicles was still on the table. Although he said the vehicles will be put on sale soon, the county would not dispose them at a throw-away price.

Even as he signaled the end of the old, he also warned the drivers of the new vehicles to use them to serve Nairobi’s people.

The old vehicles were regarded more as a tool used by inspectorate staff to harass city residents. 

“These are tools to serve the people in our delivery, not to harass the people of Nairobi,” Sakaja said. “But,” he emphasised, “the people of Nairobi must also obey the rules.”

Although the now defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) had promised to buy 250 vehicles to replace the dirty and rickety pick-up trucks, the tenure of the team lead by General Mohammed Badi ended before it could fulfill that particular pledge. The team’s tenure started in August 2020 and ended in September last year.

Sakaja was elected Nairobi governor in August last year, partly on the pledge of transforming the city, including by planting more trees and improving garbage collection. Part of the job of the city inspectorate is to ensure that this is done satisfactorily and that city residents observe city rules and bylaws.

The new vehicles are expected to help the inspectorate staff in improving the mobility of the enforcement officers and ensure quality service delivery.

Previous county administrations had also promised to replace the jalopies but never succeeded, partly because of budgetary constraints or lack of political will.

Former Nairobi City Council Clerk Philip Kisia yesterday said that during his three-year tenure at the City Hall that purchasing new vehicles was not a priority as the council used to get only Sh2.9 billion from the national government to run its services. At the time, devolution had not become a reality. 

“We used the value model and every plan was only funded if it was going to add value to the people of Nairobi. Buying new inspectorate vehicles was not a priority then with the limited resources,” he said. 

Decommissioning of the old vehicles has, it appears, become a priority now and yesterday, the journey of removing them from the road started on high gear.