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Zoning rules on paper: Criminal gangs shielding Nairobi’s rogue developers
City Hall, the Nairobi City County headquarters.
By Ndubi Moturi
What you need to know:
- Part of the underhand deals involve mobilising youths to attack any "intruders" at the construction sites.
On February 1, 2024, John (not his real name), an enforcement officer in the Nairobi City County Inspectorate, was going about his duties.
Then an emergency call came in. Accompanied by four other enforcement officers, they moved to stop an illegal construction site in Nairobi's South C area.
Unbeknownst to them, a gang had already been mobilised to prevent them from accessing the site.
While they were making preliminary investigations, the youths, including some of the construction workers, attacked and injured them.
"Tulienda kutoa watu kwa hiyo site lakini tulivamiwa na kurushwa chini...miguu yangu ilivunjika na hadi saa hizi siwezi simama (We went there to eject everyone from the site only to be attacked and dragged down...my legs were injured and I can't stand properly)," John tells Nation.Africa.
The incident has put the ongoing developments at City Hall in the spotlight amid growing concerns over the proliferation of high-rise apartments in Nairobi in contravention of zoning regulations.
A source familiar with developments at City Hall said that several senior officials have been colluding with rogue developers who violate zoning regulations.
Part of the underhand deals involve mobilising youths to attack any "intruders" at the construction sites.
“It is a cartel (of some sort) and you cannot really break it. They collude with senior police officers and senior officials in the county government. The junior enforcement team, therefore, can do nothing to stop them for they are just junior officers. If the juniors attempt to do anything, they usually get it rough whenever they are sent out,” explained the source.
Inadequate resources
The violation has exposed residents to vulnerability and left them competing for inadequate resources.
A few brave residents who dare question the trend are attacked by goons or shoved away. This is the case of Kileleshwa's Member of the County Assembly (MCA) Robert Alai, who found himself in a tight spot when he went to inquire about an ongoing construction in his ward on Sunday.
The construction site is along Mwingi Road in Kileleshwa, and the developer had not put up a notice board on the construction site as required by law but had fenced off the area with iron sheets.
A group of youth cut down the trees and cleared the area for construction.
Mr Alai's efforts to inquire about the development from the county executive bore no fruit, he said, as the officials claimed not to be aware of the ongoing development.
“I got calls from residents that they just woke up to the sound of power saws and machines cutting down trees. Some of these trees have been here for close to fifty years. There was no public participation to change users,” Mr Alai says.
A visit to the site, however, turned tragic. He was attacked by a group of youths and pushed out of the construction site.
Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai.
“It is a sad situation that we are seeing in Nairobi County where approvals are provided without even public participation,” he charged.
The Nation team visited separate construction sites in Kileleshwa and met similar occurrences.
We parked a few metres from a construction site, then a man who played a guard role ran through the fenced areas to notify the supervisor of our presence.
Our identity
And within a few minutes, a supervisor approached us inquiring about our identity.
We were pushed into the building when they noticed we had a camera as the supervisor made frantic calls complaining about “intruders” at the construction site. Our team had not moved into the site.
Within a few minutes, a plain clothes police officer from Kileleshwa Police Station arrived, demanding an explanation of what we were doing. This particular construction site is a few meters from Kisichwa River, a tributary of the Nairobi River.
An analysis by Nation.Africa, via satellite imagery, shows the building is only five metres from Kisichwa River. Graphics | Mike Yambo
In 2018, the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) demolished structures, including a Java restaurant and a Shell petrol station, at the same spot for encroachment on riparian land.
“The building on this site was demolished just due to some local politics. We have adhered to all the rules and you can see this distance is 10 metres from the Nairobi River. We have all the credentials and approvals,” said one of the developers, showing us the purported approvals from different government entities.
He showed us approvals from Nairobi City County, National Construction Authority (NCA) and NEMA. The building currently hosts a shopping centre.
Residents in the Clay City Kasarani area also worried after a private developer re-painted a building which had been earmarked for demolition ready for occupation.
The building had developed cracks in August last year, and tenants vacated the building.
Peris Ochieng, a resident, told Nation.Africa that the building is ready for occupation.
“We are afraid that the owners want to rent out the apartment. It was re-painted and reinforced with concrete and we suspect that people who do not know the history of the building will be lured into the apartment,” she said.
Dysfunctional approval system
The dysfunctional approval system for the construction of buildings in Nairobi was laid bare during a committee hearing at the Nairobi City County Assembly Urban Planning Committee, where it emerged that junior officers literally “dish out” approvals.
Frederick Ochanda, a planning director, was put to task after it emerged that he had been providing the approvals without the Urban Planning Technical Committee's green light.
Ordinarily, construction development applications pass before the committee of experts and representatives from the county government for scrutiny and approval of the construction.
The committee members told MCAs that they reject applications that violate zoning regulations, but the county approves them under controversial circumstances.
According to the Physical and Land Planning Act, the County Chief Officer provides the approvals for the construction of buildings.
The Chief Officer for Urban Planning, Patrick Analo, denied providing the approvals despite the permits bearing his signature.
"I do not have such rights to the system and I cannot therefore give what I do not have. I cannot account for the building approvals that have been released by the county government because I do not have the rights to the system. The system has the records on who provides these approvals," Mr Analo told the committee chaired by Kitisuru MCA Alvin Palapala.
Mr Analo told Nation.Africa the county is working on prosecuting those carrying out the illegal constructions in the city.
“It is a big challenge and it is not fair to blame Johnson Sakaja. Some of the structures that you are seeing in this area were approved two to three years back. We take note of resident associations from Kilimani and Kileleshwa. We have a mechanism for addressing that. The city courts are coming back in order to help us prosecute the illegalities in constructions,” he said.
According to the Town and County Planners Association of Kenya Chairperson Mairura Omwenga, the construction of high-rise apartments in Kileleshwa and Kilimani areas without upgrading the infrastructure and adequate public participation is a disaster in waiting.
“The area was designated to be a place holding one household maybe made up of four people maybe on a piece of land half an acre of land. There are now high-rise apartments where there are over 500 households. This means we will be having about 2,000-3,000 people extra in that area. Remember the 2,000 people are expected to be using the same road, the same sewer line, same water source,” Mr Mairura told Nation.Africa.
The urban planner also argues that Nairobi City County should focus on developing the necessary infrastructure to support the upcoming developments.
“Although there is still a need to develop and regenerate the city, the exercise should be guided by the development plans. We need to take into account the infrastructure required."
Nairobi Police Commander Adamson Bungei, however, refuted reports that police officers are protecting the perpetrators.
“This is not a police matter. The county government has the records of who owns which property,” Mr Bungei said.
