This archive report was first published on 31 July 2019.
On July 31, 2019, the Nairobi County government reported a significant decline in construction jobs and building material sales due to a 34.6% drop in approved projects from January to June 2019.
The Built Environment report by the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) noted that only 955 projects worth Sh84.2 billion were approved in a process that took an average of 41.35 days. This is a stark contrast to the previous year when 1,167 projects worth Sh128.7 billion were approved in 37 days.
AAK president Mugure Njendu attributed the decline to stringent inspection following the 'bomoa bomoa' campaign, where properties standing on road reserves, fire stations, riparian, and forestland were demolished despite ownership documents.
According to Njendu, the county's revenue also fell by 33.1% or Sh165 million to Sh333 million. He suggested that using online portals to process building applications could reduce human contact and graft.
Residential buildings took up 74.32% of approvals, followed by public use at 11.23%, industrial at 8.63%, commercial at 5.93%, and education developments at 0.21%. The majority of developments took place in Eastleigh, Karen, Nairobi's Central Business District, and Industrial area.
