Experts want plans approved in public

What you need to know:

  • Ontario has law on matter.
  • Specialists argue that move will help reduce cases of land grabbing.

Approving development plans in public meetings will reduce cases of land grabbing in Nairobi, say experts.

They said this will also lead to better planning.

Concern about the integrity of development approvals in Nairobi is high following a number of disputes about the ownership of both public and private land.

Usually, complaints are triggered by the appearance of men who quickly erect walls or fences around a property, and intimidate anyone who challenges them.

In the recent past, disputes have been reported at Lang'ata Road Primary School, St Catherine’s Primary School in South B, the Machakos Country Bus Station, a 134-acre plot in Karen valued at more than Sh8 billion, the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company’s land in Loresho, and a 1,600-acre parcel of land in Ruai, among others.

Often, as in the case of the school, the people claiming the land produce documents they claim constitute permission from the county to develop the land.

Nairobi grants development permission through the Technical Committee in the Planning Department, and not the Planning Committee of the County Assembly.

The committee was created in 2008, and was intended to add private-sector expertise to the approval process.

Previously, development approvals were granted by councillors, who often had no skills in planning or engineering.

According to Mr John Barreh, the Director of Planning for Nairobi County, the Technical Committee has around 20 members, drawn from county departments such as Engineering, Roads, Nairobi Water, and Health, private sector professionals and other stakeholders.

Members from the private sector are nominated by professional associations such as the Architectural Association of Kenya, the Kenya Institute of Planners, the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya and the Institution of Engineers of Kenya for a two-year term.

The committee meets at City Hall, usually twice a month. Applications for development that have been fully evaluated by staff from various county departments are tabled and every member gives input, according to a staffer familiar with the process. Permission to develop is granted to applications that satisfy the committee.

Concerning land grabbing, Mr Barreh agrees that granting building approvals in public meetings could reduce the likelihood of permits being given to grabbers, but cautions that the process would need to be well regulated to avoid a mob atmosphere.

“Countries where development is approved at public meetings have the process entrenched in law,” he says.

Approving development at a public meeting is established by law in advanced democracies.

For example, municipal meetings in the Canadian province of Ontario are governed by the Municipal Act, which requires that all meetings be held in public except when certain confidential matters such as personal matters about identifiable individuals and proposed acquisition or disposition of land by the city are discussed.

One City Hall employee who did not want to be named fingered the causes of conflict in development as the non-centralisation of information, and not putting it in a form that is accessible.

The staffer also defended the county, noting that when title deeds are presented to City Hall and the National Land Commission confirms that the document is genuine, City Hall must respect that confirmation.

The county planners who sit on the committee are not fully known, but include Mr Barreh and Mr John Ojwang, the county’s Assistant Director of Planning, Development Control. A previous holder of this position, Mr David Gatimu, is currently the Chief Officer for Planning in Kiambu County.

The Architectural Association of Kenya is represented on the committee by Mr Wilson Njora, who is also a director in Plumbline Consulting, a private planning firm.

APPLICATIONS

Mr Henry Mwau, a director with Real Plan Consulting, and Mr Geoffrey Njoroge, a consultant at Ecoplan Ltd, represent the Kenya Institute of Planners.

Mr Mwau is reluctant to open all building approvals to the public, primarily because of the volume of applications the committee receives.

However, a public hearing would be ideal for certain “high-impact” applications, he says.

Mr Mairura Omwenga, an outspoken advocate of urban planning and university lecturer, formerly represented the Architectural Association of Kenya on the committee, and is currently the director of Kenmit Bill, a private firm.

He supports public meetings for development approvals. “After all,” he says, “we also argue serious criminal cases in open court”.