Nairobi residents should brace themselves for tougher times if the Nairobi County Finance Bill 2023 is passed.
The Bill sets out an ambitious set of measures to enable the county government to raise Sh19.9 billion this financial year.
In the Bill, Governor Johnson Sakaja’s administration proposes to reduce, increase and introduce new fees for some services that are currently provided free of charge.
Under the Environment and Public Health Department, the county government is proposing to increase fees for embalming bodies at the City Mortuary.
Residents will pay Sh3,000 for adults and Sh2,500 for children and infants. This is an increase from the Sh2,500 and Sh2,000 charged for embalming adults and children respectively.
The Bill also proposes the introduction of charges for conducting post-mortem examinations on bodies during weekdays, whereas the services are currently provided free of charge.
The county government will start charging Sh5,000 for adults, Sh3,000 for children and Sh1,500 for infants whose bodies are post-mortem examined at the city mortuary.
The Bill also seeks to increase cremation fees at Lang’ata Crematorium. The body of an adult will be charged Sh20,000, up from Sh16,800, while those of children will be charged Sh16,000, up from Sh15,800. The cremation of an infant’s body will increase from Sh12,800 to Sh14,000.
City residents will also start paying for tests at Level 4 hospital laboratories if the Bill is approved by the county assembly.
For motorists, the county is proposing to introduce automated parking where vehicle owners will pay Sh100 for one hour and Sh50 for each hour after the first hour.
Vehicles are currently charged Sh200 for daily parking, but a new proposal will increase this to Sh300 for small vehicles. Pickups and vans will be charged Sh500 per day, while trucks over 5 tonnes will be charged Sh3,000 per day, up from Sh200 and Sh1000 per day respectively in Zone 1 areas.
The areas identified as Zone 1 areas are Kijabe Street, Westlands, Upper Hill, Community, Ngara, High Ridge, Industrial Area, Gigiri, Kilimani, Yaya Center, Milimani, Hurlingham, Lavington, Karen, Eastleigh, Muthaiga and Gikomba.
The county government however invites the public for their thoughts into the Bill.
