Nairobi’s efforts to strengthen control over construction are facing a basic capacity problem, the county says it does not have enough building inspectors, equipment or funding to effectively monitor developments across the capital.
The shortage has become more significant as concerns over unsafe buildings and construction practices continue to put pressure on the county’s planning department.
Appearing before the Nairobi County Assembly Planning Committee, County Executive Committee Member for Planning Patrick Mbogo said the department needs adequate funding to carry out its work effectively, including strengthening operations at ward level.
‘We need additional building Inspectors At ward level Chair,” CEC Mbogo told the committee.
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The ministry has been pushing for more building inspectors at ward level, arguing that having officers closer to construction sites would improve monitoring and allow the county to respond more quickly to violations.
“What we want Chair is equipment and tooling for our officers,” CEC Mbogo added.
But the proposal has raised concerns within the Assembly
Minority Leader Antony Kiragu opposed increasing the number of inspectors without stronger safeguards, warning that expanding enforcement at ward level could create more opportunities for extortion and harassment of developers and residents.
“No I am not in support of additional personnel at ward level…those people harass and extort people…that is why I did not Want To devolve these Functions To ward level,” Kiragu said.
The disagreement points to a difficult balance for the county, Nairobi needs stronger oversight of construction, but the officers responsible for enforcement must also operate within a system that prevents abuse of their powers.
Inspectors without the tools to enforce
The staffing challenge is only one part of the problem.
Acting Director of Planning Dr Tom Achar told the committee that planning officers also lack adequate equipment and tools needed to carry out enforcement operations.
It was alleged that officers sometimes have to borrow equipment from the county’s mobility department when they need to bring down buildings.
“Chair we lack adequate Officers and equipment’s…we also need capacity building and training of our officers so as to do our work effectively,” Achar Said.
The department said Demolishing an unsafe or illegally constructed building is a demanding operation, and the dependence on other departments highlights the limitations facing the planning team.
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The department also cited a shortage of equipment and protective gear, including reflectors required by officers working on the ground.
For a department expected to monitor thousands of developments across a rapidly growing city, such gaps raise questions about how much enforcement can realistically be achieved with the resources currently available.
Enforcement can also come with security costs
Achar also raised concerns about hostility from some developers towards planning officers.
“Our Officers are facing hostility from developers chair hence forcing us to pay for our own security which is expensive,” Achar added.
According to him, officers can face resistance when carrying out their duties, forcing the department to make its own arrangements for security.
That comes with an additional cost for a department that already says its budget is inadequate.
The result is a chain of problems, too few officers, limited equipment, inadequate funding and the need for security during some enforcement operations.
Simply adding more inspectors, therefore, may not solve the problem if the officers do not have the resources or protection required to do their work.
Will you only work when there is money?
Committee Chairperson Geoffrey Majiwa challenged the Executive officials over their reliance on budgetary allocations asking whether enforcement of construction regulations should stop whenever the department does not have money.
Majiwa stressed that enforcing building and development control rules requires more than funding, putting the officials on the spot over what action they could take with the resources and powers already available to them.
The exchange shifted the discussion from how much money the department needs to a broader question of responsibility and enforcement.
While additional funding may be necessary for equipment, staffing and field operations, the committee wanted to know what the Executive is doing with its existing capacity to ensure developers comply with planning regulations.
But what rules are the officers enforcing?
The capacity debate is unfolding alongside another problem the disagreement over Nairobi’s Development Control Policy.
The Planning Committee has suspended implementation of the Development Control Policy currently being used by the county, saying there are discrepancies between the framework being implemented and the version approved by the Assembly.
Committee Chairperson Geoffrey Majiwa directed county officials to stop implementing the policy as the committee seeks to resolve the outstanding issues.
The controversy centres on whether the document currently being enforced is the same framework that went through the Assembly.
Kiragu argued that the Executive should not implement a planning framework that has not been approved and gazetted by the Assembly.
He also questioned the order in which the county has developed its planning policies, saying the Land Use Policy should come before the Development Control Policy.
He further alleged that the document uploaded on the county website differs from the one approved by the committee and passed by the Assembly, calling on the Executive to take responsibility for the document published online.
A bigger question for Nairobi
The dispute exposes a problem that goes beyond the number of building inspectors.
For development control to work, Nairobi needs enough officers to monitor construction, the equipment to enforce orders, sufficient funding to support field operations and security where officers face resistance.
But it also needs clear and properly approved rules that both the county and developers can follow.
For Nairobi residents, the bigger question is whether the county can build a development control system that is properly funded, adequately equipped, transparent and strong enough to enforce planning rules without creating fresh opportunities for abuse.
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