Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja (right) and Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Kennedy Ng’ondi.
Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Kennedy Ng’ondi has accused city lawmakers of failing to check the excesses of City Hall even as he blamed Governor Johnson Sakaja’s administration of approving construction of illegal high-rise buildings.
Speaker Ng’ondi, in his communication to the House last week, accused Mr Sakaja’s government of overseeing development of illegal buildings since he assumed power in 2022.
“Critical area of concern is physical planning and construction area. We have left executive officials in the planning department to run affairs with little accountability. This neglect has resulted in the blatant disregard of the physical planning act, leading to the approval of the substandard building, and proliferations of rogue developers who prioritise profit over safety and quality,” Mr Ng’ondi told the House.
The Speaker stated that Section 19 of the Physical Planning Act (Cap 286) requires involvement of residents through public participation before approval of any development.
“This has been disregarded on many occasions, resulting in high-rise buildings coming up in our wards and for some reasons without the knowledge of members who happen to be the custodian of their various wards. It is quite unfortunate that this has been disregarded on many occasions without strict oversight. Illegal developments have continued to emerge endangering lives and contributing to Nairobi’s growing urban chaos,” Mr Ng’ondi said.
The speaker challenged sectoral committees to demand accountability from the executive.
“Many committees have neglected this responsibility, choosing instead to rely on second hand information from county officials. Where they conduct inspection visits, their reports are not forthcoming or do not provide information that may help to hold to account executive officials who continue to act with impunity,” the Speaker said.
Mr Ng’ondi said that the House has been starved of critical business such as Bills due to laxity by MCAs who have also contributed to the collapse of Ward Development Fund in the county.
“Committees have not been active in scrutinising key county projects, budgets and policies… some committees only react after problems arise, making difficult to prevent mismanagement or wastage of public funds,” he added.
The fate of the urban planning sub-committee which was formed last year to probe allegations of interference by Mr Sakaja’s aides in the approval of new buildings is unclear.
The sub-committee ended prematurely after revelation from one of the executive members that some of Mr Sakaja’s aides were calling the shots with regard to which new developments should be approved.
Also uncertain are findings of an ad-hoc committee which was formed almost two years ago to probe the drastic fall of revenue collection, despite the assurance from the committee chairperson that the report was ready for tabling.
This comes amid protests from city residents’ associations which have rejected the proposed Nairobi City County Development Control Policy 2023. It suggests that some estates in the city would accommodate new buildings of up to 75 floors.
In the recent public participation, the associations through their representatives said that the county has prioritised money over fundamental issues that affect them, including water, public health, water supply, sewerage system, electricity among others.
“There has been an introduction of the new term, mixed use. We object to this because as it is, our area already has a commercial area which includes police training school, shopping center, the water tanks, primary schools. We do not need any more areas. Why do we have to have an eyesore of informal settlements whereas there is land available for redevelopment. We must involve the community in any developments that are happening in our regions. It must form part of the process before any approval is done,” said Mr Geoffrey Luseno representing Loresho residents’ association.
Mr Samuel Kalama, representing Upper Hill district association, said the proposal of having flats of 75 floors in Nairobi should not be a priority.
“Upper Hill is already suffering with sewer issues, water, drainage, when it is raining and when it is not raining. Is the county ready for all that in terms of infrastructure and roads, water drainage, and sewer because it is a daily issue calling Nairobi water to unblock sewer lines? Many houses are now digging boreholes, are we safer at the end of the day? To have a building that is 75 floors up, how low would you dig and how is it going to affect your neighbours? We are making this place very weak,” Mr Kalama said.
kbosuben@ke.nationmedia.com
