Nairobi Lodgings Threaten To Increase Fees After Sakaja Proposals
The proposals aim to introduce inspection fees for lodgings for the first time, which would compel owners of lodgings to pay a Ksh50,000 fee for inspection.
Marvin Chege 
Regular lodging users in Nairobi could be forced to pay more for reliance on the facilities if proposals by Governor Johnson Sakaja's administration are adopted.
The proposals are contained in the Nairobi County Finance Bill 2023 which is currently before the County Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee for consideration and is among a raft of costly levies being proposed by Sakaja aimed at raising Ksh19.9 billion own source revenue for the county government in the financial year ending June 30, 2024.
The proposals aim to introduce inspection fees for lodgings for the first time, which would compel owners of lodgings to pay a Ksh50,000 fee for inspection.
Nairobi Governor, Johnson Sakaja in his office. /TWITTER.JOHNSON SAKAJA
Currently, lodgings in Nairobi charge clients between Ksh500 to Ksh5,000 but with the proposal, the fee could rise to between Ksh1,000 and Ksh7,000, causing a ripple effect which would stretch to commercial sex workers who may be forced to charge their clients more for their 'services'.
At worst, this would prompt Kenyans, especially on lunchtime escapades to eye Airbnb facilities as well as green lodges across the city during their dash out of their offices for a midday ‘meal.’
Previously, most hotels and lodgings across Nairobi City have room occupancy hitting all-time highs during the day as compared to the night time where occupancy is almost single-digit.
“Most of the single rooms are fully booked during the day, but empty at night. The occupancy is usually at 80 per cent on a bad day. As early as 11 am, people start streaming in, and this will go on up to around 6 pm,” a hotel staffer revealed to The Standard in 2021.
The rooms were costing Ksh3,500 for a single and Ksh4,500 for a double. Initially, the hotel used to charge Ksh6,500 for a single room.
Other Proposals In Nairobi County Finance Bill
In other proposals contained in the County Finance Bill which was tabled in the County Assembly by the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Finance and Planning, Charles Kerich, lunchtime preachers at Jevanjee Gardens and those at Kamukunji Grounds will now pay Ksh500 daily to the county if they want to continue spreading the gospel.
The lunchtime preachers who want to preach in Uhuru and Central Parks will have to pay Ksh1,000 every day.
The proposals have not spared musicians who use the city parks and grounds to record videos for their songs. Shooting music videos inside the revamped Uhuru and Central Parks will cost Ksh5,000 per hour.
Shooting commercial videos in both Uhuru Park and Central Park will cost Ksh10,000 per hour, while any music concert at Jevanjee Gardens will be charged Ksh5,000.
Charitable organisations wishing to use city parks will pay Ksh3,000 per hour if the Bill is passed as it is.
The county also introduced an annual fee of Ksh4,000 for vendors using City Park and Ksh5,000 for a trading licence for the vendors.
Organised groups of fewer than 100 people using City Park will pay Ksh5,000 every year while organised groups of more than 100 members will pay Ksh10,000.
Organisers of religious meetings at Kamukunji Grounds will also pay Ksh20,000 per day.
