New findings link Nairobi County, MCAs' parking to road accidents – petitioner tells Court

A constitutional petition seeking to hold Nairobi City County and the Nairobi County Assembly to account over alleged wrongful parking of official vehicles has taken a new turn.

This is after the petitioner, Robert Leroy Ochieng, told the High Court he had uncovered fresh evidence linking the practice to a series of road accidents.

Appearing before Justice Lawrence Mugambi on Tuesday, Ochieng said his team had received new findings showing that some victims had allegedly been affected by government or assembly vehicles parked improperly along city roads.

"New findings have come to our table that there are some victims who have suffered from accidents resulting from the wrongful parking for which the 1st and 2nd respondents have been blamed," he informed the court.

He said the material included medical records and incident reports dating back several years and argued that it was necessary to place these documents before the court “to prove this case conclusively” and ensure finality in the litigation.

"There's no prejudice if we are given an opportunity to prove this case conclusively against the respondents," he said.

He asked for up to 30 days to file further affidavits and supporting submissions.

Lawyers for the two respondents, Kokebe for the County Assembly and Austine Odoyo for the County Government, indicated they were prepared to proceed with highlighting submissions but left it to the court to give directions.

Kokebe, however, expressed displeasure at what he described as the petitioner’s manner of prosecuting the case.

He noted that pleadings had already closed and suggested that issues of traffic violations ought to be handled by a traffic court rather than through a constitutional petition.

"We had indicated that there was the aspect of exhaustion and we equally brought to the court's attention that the matter that was brought in the form of a petition is one that is supposedly to be taken before the traffic court," he said.

Justice Mugambi questioned the petitioner about his bid to reopen the matter and directed him to file a formal application for leave to introduce the new evidence.

"It would be prudent for the counsel to thus file a formal application for leave to be allowed to reopen the case, which order can only be made after hearing the responses of the respondents," the judge observed.

He ruled that the application should be filed and served within seven days, with responses to be lodged seven days thereafter.

"If the application is not filed within 7 days, then the order granting leave to file that application will be deemed to have lapsed," he said.

The case will next be mentioned on February 18, 2026.

The petition, filed in 2024, challenges an alleged trend of county and assembly vehicles being parked in the middle of city roads.

Ochieng argues that the actions endanger motorists and pedestrians and violate constitutional rights to safety and orderly administration.

The city lawyer, therefore, seeks a declaration that parking outside designated areas and pedestrian footpaths along several streets in Nairobi is illegal.