City lawyer takes Sakaja to court for stopping new building approvals
Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja’s directive to suspend all building and excavation licences in the county pending a review has been challenged in court by the city’s lawyer, Victor Odhiambo.
The lawyer first raised the matter before the Nairobi County Physical and Land Use Planning Liaison Committee, challenging Governor Sakaja’s decision in April this year.
The Nairobi City Magistrate Court ruled that the matter would be heard and determined on June 6.
In his appeal, the lawyer said the Governor’s unilateral decision to stop considering and issuing building permits was unconstitutional and a violation of the right to fair administrative action as provided for in Section 4(3) of the Fair Administrative Action Act.
Mr Odhiambo argued that such orders should have come from the County Executive Committee (CEC) member responsible for town planning, Mr Stephen Mwangi.
“The planning authority in relation to county government planning functions is the County Executive Committee member and not the governor. Any communication on planning matters should therefore fall under the purview of the said County Executive Committee Member,” Mr Odhiambo said in his appeal.
Sakaja was also faulted for deciding without any legal backing or gazette notification. The court heard that there was no public participation by the county government.
“Growth is a continuous exercise and it is unfair to derail it without just cause. Compliance issues should be ongoing and not based on the fiat of the Governor.”
He said his appeal was supported by the principle of fairness and non-discrimination, the principle of equal and fair application of the law and Articles 27, 40 and 47 of the Constitution of Kenya.
In his directive, the governor said the move would allow the county to audit all buildings approved in the last two years.
He said the decision followed complaints from stakeholders in the built environment sector.
“We have also suspended the carrying out of excavations at construction sites, as this would compromise the structural integrity and safety of the adjoining buildings due to the ongoing heavy rains. As a result, an audit of all buildings constructed in the last two years will be initiated to determine whether they are up to code. This audit will also cover building plans that have been approved but construction has not yet started,” said Sakaja.