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NYS halts Sh20 passenger services

By Hillary Kimuyu February 19th, 2021 1 min read

The National Youth Service (NYS) says it has been forced to halt the transport services as the project is not sustainable.

NYS has for the past two years been ferrying passengers around Nairobi’s Central Business District and in its environs in its trademark buses at subsidized prices.

The programme dubbed Okoa Abiria is a directive of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

But Public Service Principal Secretary Mary Kimonye now reveals the project has no funding.

While appearing before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee chaired by Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi, Kimonye said the service has been stopped as the Sh20 charged per trip could not sustain its running.

“The Sh20 fare transport charge could not meet operational costs hence putting the sustainability of the project at stake,” she explained. The service was charging a flat rate irrespective of the distance,” she said.

Two-thirds of the NYS buses were deployed in 2018 to serve Nairobi city routes with lower fares.

The routes include Pipeline in Embakasi, Githurai, Mwiki, Dandora, Kariobangi, Kibera, Kawangware, Kangemi and Kayole.

NYS buses to ferry city commuters stranded in flood waters

In 2019, former Auditor-General Edward Ouko said that only nine of 27 buses were in operations with the rest grounded.

Ouko said no funds had been received for subsidized service, adding the project also lacked a budget allocation for maintenance and operation costs of the buses.