By The Weekly Vision Reporter
The High Court has ruled that Nairobi County acted unfairly when it stopped Super Metro buses from using the Kenya Cinema stop on Moi Avenue, and Super Metro can now go back to using it.
Nobody disputes that the county has the right to manage matatu stages, decide who parks where, and keep the city from getting too congested. But the court made one thing clear: having that power doesn’t mean the county can shut a business out overnight without warning.
Judge William Musyoka heard the case — Super Metro Limited v County Government of Nairobi and the Chief Officer, Mobility — and cancelled the county’s decision to bar Super Metro from the Kenya Cinema stage. He found the county had broken basic rules of fairness by not telling Super Metro what was happening or giving it a chance to respond before acting.
Super Metro had a valid letter, dated 13th March 2024, allowing it to use the Kenya Cinema terminus as long as it paid its fees and followed the rules. Then, on the night of 25th May 2026, county officials simply blocked Super Metro’s vehicles from the stop. The company says it got no notice, no explanation, and no chance to argue its side first. The same day, Super Metro, acting through its representative, Josphat Peter Mukuria, went to court asking for several things: to cancel the county’s decision, to force the county to let the buses back in, to stop the county from blocking them again, and to get a court order confirming its rights.
The county was formally notified of the case. A lawyer registered on its behalf on 8th June 2026, but the county never actually replied to the case in court. Because the county didn’t respond, the court accepted Super Metro’s version of events: the company had paid what it owed, its permit had not been cancelled, and yet it was locked out of a stop it was still legally allowed to use.
The judge said the county’s move was sudden and unreasonable, and that officials never considered how much disruption it would cause, both to Super Metro and to commuters who rely on that stop. In his ruling, he said Super Metro “was not given prior notice and reasons” before its buses were blocked, and that the county’s decision was unfair because it broke the basic rules of natural justice, meaning nobody should be punished or shut out without first being told why and given a chance to respond.
This ruling doesn’t take away the county’s power over Nairobi’s transport system. The county can still decide which stops go to which operators, work to reduce congestion, and take action against operators who break the rules. The judge didn’t say Super Metro has a permanent right to that specific stop forever, only that the county can’t take away access unfairly.
In other words: the county can still make the same kind of decision, ban an operator, reassign a stop, or withdraw permission, but it has to follow a fair process first. That means telling the operator what it plans to do, explaining why, and giving them a chance to respond before the decision takes effect. Had the county followed that process here, the same outcome might have stood.
The lesson goes beyond this one bus stop. Kenya’s Constitution (Article 47) doesn’t stop the government from setting policy; it just requires that decisions be made the right way. Any business dealing with a county government, licensing board, or other public authority is entitled to advance notice, a clear explanation, and a chance to respond before a decision that hurts them takes effect.
A public body that skips those steps risks having even a decision it was fully entitled to make thrown out by the courts. In short: it’s not just about what the government decides, it’s about how it gets there.
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