Sakaja Faces Assembly Fury as Planning Committee Threaten to Freeze on Nairobi Building Approvals
In Summary
- Nairobi Assembly Planning Committee Chairman Geoffrey Majiwa accused the county administration of undermining professional planning procedures and allowing junior officers to oversee senior officials.
- South B MCA Waithera Chege urged Governor Johnson Sakaja to surrender to the nearest police station and record a statement over the Eastleigh building collapse.
- The Committee plans to review building approvals next week and consider drastic measures, including halting further approvals pending reforms in the planning department.
The Nairobi County Assembly Planning Committee has turned its attention to Governor Johnson Sakaja’s administration following the Eastleigh building collapse, demanding accountability from county officials responsible for urban planning and development control.
The legislators, led by Committee Chairman Geoffrey Majiwa, raised concerns over alleged irregularities in the approval and supervision of buildings, accusing the county leadership of allowing administrative interference in technical planning processes.
Majiwa claimed that the County Planning Department had been compromised by a system in which junior officers allegedly exercise authority over senior professionals, raising questions about compliance with established approval procedures.
He further accused the Governor of delegating approval powers to an assistant director, a move he said had undermined the role of the Urban Planning Technical Committee (UPTC).
“There are characters who are seated in the office of governor who are approving plans, not the professionals who are seated there. Those who are seated there are not doing anything. Then they are just watching activities go on. It’s a scenario where you find a junior officer is put in charge of his bosses. Those who are supposed to be his bosses, he’s the one supervising them and giving them orders on what to do with regard to approvals and supervision in this town. So we are asking the governor that he has to accept that changes must be brought in that department for safety of the people of Nairobi and development to take place in a manner that is required,” Majiwa said.
South B MCA Waithera Chege escalated the pressure on the county boss, calling on Sakaja to surrender to the nearest police station and record a statement regarding the incident.
“I watched last night, governor lying on TV, that there was no approval. I have issued a copy of that approval that was issued by the county government. By the time the developer documents the content of the approval under the NCA system, and I challenge you to go and interview the National Construction Authority.Let them confirm whether their system has a copy of that approval, which I have just issued now. This process is governed by the Physical and Land Use Planning Act, number 13 of 2019, including section 6061 on the consultation and determination of development applications. There has been no allegation that the approval submitted to NCA was fake.” Waithera said.
The Committee is scheduled to meet next week to scrutinise building approvals issued by the county government and determine whether additional measures are necessary to address concerns surrounding development control.
Majiwa warned that the legislators could move to halt further building approvals until the department undergoes a comprehensive overhaul, arguing that the alleged administrative failures require urgent intervention to protect residents.
“We are convening next week and we are going to make drastic decisions to make sure that no approvals will continue in Nairobi unless that department is completely overhauled and changes must take place in that department because that department is completely rotten. There’s no professionalism that is going on in that department. It is business that is going on there,” Majiwa said.
As the political and administrative questions surrounding the collapse continue, the Ministry of Health has established an emergency response desk at the rescue site to support ongoing operations and assist those who may still be trapped beneath the debris.
Public Health and Professional Standards Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni said the Ministry was coordinating with the Nairobi County Government to provide medical support and strengthen the emergency response.
“The Ministry of Health has activated disaster response protocols and is working closely with the county government of Nairobi to support medical response to all those that may still be found alive,” Muthoni said.
