To stop the deadly buildings of Nairobi, start with dog tax

Residents in shock after a residential building in Huruma, Nairobi, crumbled on April 29, 2016. The owner, who reportedly owns three other buildings in the area, hired people to conceal the ‘X’ mark usually placed on structures marked for demolition. PHOTO | ROBERT NGUGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • If you cannot make sure that folks pay the dog tax, it means you cannot do the big ones like ensure that no sub-standard highrises are built (an official says 75 per cent of buildings in Nairobi are sub-standard).
  • In Kampala, for example, President Yoweri Museveni, in seeking to clean up the city, appointed a no-nonsense woman called Jennifer Musisi to head an executive authority for the Ugandan capital that he rammed through Parliament.
  • Some years ago, there was an accident in which two workers died at a big construction belonging to a contractor with friends in high places. It turned out he had not taken out a workman’s compensation policy.

At least 23 people were killed when an apartment block in Huruma, in Nairobi’s outskirts, collapsed during torrential rains on Friday.

The authorities, rightly, took the view that the owners of the 198-room building were responsible. They were arrested and taken to court.

According to the principal secretary in the Interior Ministry, Mr Karanja Kibicho, the building had been earmarked for demolition.

“For some strange reasons, the Nairobi county government never carried out the demolition order, which would have saved the country yesterday’s tragedy,” he said.

Why Nairobi county officials did not demolish the building is anyone’s guess. Social media has already passed its judgement, though; it was corruption. They “ate” something to look the other way.

Nairobi is not alone. Many other African cities have the same problem.

Question, then, is: what can be done? As always, it is with the small things.

Some years ago a hesitant Nairobi city official showed up at our gate. He had heard dogs barking one time when he was walking in the neighbourhood listening for taxable sounds. He explained that the city had a dog tax. It was Sh500 per animal.

He was probably used to being chased away and insulted, so he was quite surprised at our enthusiasm to pay the tax.

He did the dog count, gave us a slip, and we went and paid and got the metal tags with numbers. Our dogs had paid their dues to the city.

I was keen because it was what the pursuit of a small dog tax told me about the possibilities for Nairobi then.

If you cannot make sure that folks pay the dog tax, it means you cannot do the big ones like ensure that no sub-standard highrises are built (an official says 75 per cent of buildings in Nairobi are sub-standard).

But enforcement fails not only because of corruption; it is because there is no constituency, or votes, for it. But there are campaign contributions from shoddy contractors.

In Kampala, for example, President Yoweri Museveni, in seeking to clean up the city, appointed a no-nonsense woman called Jennifer Musisi to head an executive authority for the Ugandan capital that he rammed through Parliament.

She was opposed from all corners, but she is stubborn and pushed through reforms and really cleaned things up.

Then there was that funny election of February. Museveni and his ruling National Resistance Movement got a bloody nose in Kampala.

Now, he and his aides have thrown Musisi under the bus, blaming her reforms for costing them the city.

The way you build a constituency for a working city is through things like pet taxes. A resident who pays his pooch tax will support the governor’s crackdown on crooked contractors.

But you also need a fear factor. Not too far off, Kigali is considered one of the cleanest and safest cities in Africa.

If you are a contractor, you are not supposed to let a worker on site without taking out a basic workman’s compensation policy.

Some years ago, there was an accident in which two workers died at a big construction belonging to a contractor with friends in high places. It turned out he had not taken out a workman’s compensation policy.

A few days later a warrant was issued for him to appear at a police station. On a Saturday (of all days) a policeman got on a motorbike and went looking for him to serve him.

He found him at the funeral of a leading figure in the ruling RPF. The contractor was seated on the front “VIP” seat with other dignitaries, including the army commander in the area.

Hands trembling and knees shaking, the policeman still bravely stepped up and served the warrant.

The funeral was shocked. The VIPs told the policeman it was okay. He should go away and they would ensure that the contractor showed up at the police station first thing Monday morning.

Sounds reasonable?

It is said that somehow word got to President Paul Kagame, and he hit the roof. Everyone who was involved in “persuading” the policeman to leave empty-handed was arrested and/or demoted.

The point was made that one cannot choose when to honour a warrant. And if the masses see a policeman leaving without his suspect because the big men told him they would deliver him on Monday morning, that is how law and order breaks down. That is how Huruma happens.

The author is editor of Mail & Guardian Africa. Twitter@cobbo3