Senior officials at Nairobi City County have been exposed for approving buildings that did not follow planning and construction laws, a new report by the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) shows.
CAJ, also known as the Office of the Ombudsman, says both senior and technical county officers were involved in giving unlawful development approvals.
In its investigation report, the Commission has now recommended that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) start criminal cases against the officers involved. It also wants the Nairobi City County Public Service Board and the County Assembly to take disciplinary action against those found responsible.
The findings come as authorities continue to investigate the recent collapse of a 16-storey building in South C that killed two people. The tragedy raised fresh concerns about unsafe constructions in the city.
The Ombudsman’s investigation started after a complaint filed in October 2023 by Coldstone Investment Limited. The company had a dispute with a neighbouring developer, Khaleej Towers Limited, over a boundary issue in Eastleigh.
Coldstone claimed that Khaleej’s building was approved in a way that broke planning, zoning, building, and environmental laws. The company said the development interfered with its property rights, privacy, and even caused physical damage to its premises.
On its part, Khaleej Towers Limited filed a counter-complaint, saying it had received all required approvals. The developer argued that the disputed section of land was a public sewer wayleave.
However, investigations by CAJ found that the sewer line actually runs fully inside Coldstone’s property. The Commission said that even though the sewer serves the public, it does not turn private land into public land or allow neighbouring developers to ignore building rules.
The Ombudsman ruled that the claim of a sewer wayleave could not be used to justify building right up to the boundary, skipping required building spaces, or putting up windows facing directly into Coldstone’s property.
CAJ further found that the approvals issued for the project referenced as CPF-AW765 and PLUPA-BPM-022413-Q had serious mistakes and broke the law.
Some of the violations listed include failure to follow the Physical and Land Use Planning Act, 2019, the Building Code, and Nairobi zoning rules. Bedroom windows did not meet the required 2.4-metre distance from the boundary, while sitting rooms and balconies fell short of the six-metre requirement.
The Commission also discovered that an approval letter was issued on August 30, 2023, before the Urban Planning Technical Committee discussed the project and before final approval by the relevant County Executive Committee Member.
The Ombudsman says these actions point to serious failures within the county’s approval system, raising questions about how some buildings in Nairobi are cleared.
