Uhuru signs executive order establishing Nairobi Metropolitan Authority

President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed the Executive Order creating the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (NAMATA) to address traffic challenges in Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado, Machakos and Murang’a Counties.

Signing the order, President Kenyatta said that NAMATA is a bold and visionary policy intervention that provides a comprehensive and dynamic platform for addressing the decades-old challenges in the transport sector that have bedeviled the Metropolitan Area.

“The Authority is a consequence of various Presidential interventions and directives issued since 2013 that are geared towards positively redefining our nation’s capital as well as the wider Metropolitan Area that encompasses four other counties,” read a State House statement.

According to State House, the Authority will formulate a sustainable integrated public transport strategy based on the development of a sustainable urban mobility plan that will be the basis for the orderly and structured development of the proposed Metropolitan Area mass-transit system, which incorporates both bus rapid-transit and commuter rail.

“These elements are part of the Administration’s wider plan of improving Kenya’s transport infrastructure as a spur for social and economic development,” added the President.

“The establishment rationale of the Authority is based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in August 2013 between the National Government, through the Ministry of Transport, on one part; and the county governments of Nairobi City, Kiambu, Murang’a, Machakos and Kajiado on the other part.”

“The Metropolitan Area has experienced rapid growth over the last three decades but there has not been commensurate focus on providing sufficient and sustainable transport options for the area’s visitors and residents. NAMATA is designed to, at long last, address this gap and provide the Metropolitan Area with a world-class public transport system.”

State House further said that the Authority is an interim measure pending the enactment of a Statute that will establish a fully-fledged Authority with expanded powers and a broader mandate.

“The creation of NAMATA by the President is the most recent example of his Administration’s unwavering commitment to supporting devolution and county governments directly as well as providing assistance in coordination in matters of inter-county affairs,” added the State House statement.