Unplanned buildings in the city blamed on neglect of key oversight body

Nairobi’s planning hindered by land disputes as committee calls for funding and resources. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

Realisation of a properly planned capital city of Nairobi will remain a mirage as long as the key organ mandated to resolve land related disputes is not adequately funded and facilitated.

 The city is awash with land disputes, some linked to unplanned and haphazard buildings in total disregard of zoning regulations aimed at ensuring organised development and sustainable land use.

 The Nairobi Physical and Land Use Planning Liaison Committee is now raising concern that capital city will continue to be poorly planned if disputes are not resolved expeditiously or within a short period.

 The committee is a statutory quasi-judicial tribunal that is meant to be a cheaper alternative dispute resolution mechanism, formed to offer timely determination of appeals by aggrieved parties.

 But the committee, which comprises advocates, physical planners, architects, surveyor among other professionals, has been unable to fully function due to lack of proper facilities, delayed payment of allowances, lack of an independent budget, and the short notice for determining cases.

 The committee is blaming county government for failing to provide a register for all development permits to the public for scrutiny after it emerged most cases filed before it do not meet the set timelines under the Physical and Land Use Planning Act, 2019.

 Section 61 of the Act provides that the relevant County Executive Committee Members (CECM) shall maintain a register for all development permission and shall indicate whether the permission was granted or not, besides providing details of the development applied for. Further, the register should be open to public scrutiny.

 Established in 2021, the committee last Thursday handed over its first report on matters executed over the last three years to Built Environment and Urban Planning CECM Patrick Mbogo and County Chief Officer for Urban Planning and Development Patrick Analo.

 The committee’s chairman R.O Monda, said they have processed and concluded several appeals leading to a reduction in number of enforcement cases.

 “The uptake of the committee advisories has been commendable although a lot needs to done to achieve a more cohesive and planned city. Indeed, the continued failure by the county to keep a public register for all applications for building approvals in Nairobi is creating a great disservice to prospective litigants who do not have a ready avenue for establishing when approvals or applications are made to have an opportunity to challenge the same,” noted Monda.

 According to the report, most of the appeals came from aggrieved developers or interested parties whose developments were situated in areas characterised by medium and high income socio-economic groups.

 The report provides an overview of development matters filed at the committee by aggrieved parties dissatisfied with the decisions made after a case is settled.

 Among the key functions of the committee is realizing a properly planned city, hearing and determining complaints and claims made in respect to applications submitted to the county, hearing appeals against decisions made by the planning authority, and handling enforcement disputes. [Hudson Gumbihi]