This archive report was first published on 16 September 2019.
The Nairobi County government is facing a significant financial loss due to inefficiencies in its building approval system. According to property experts, the county is losing Sh91 million monthly in revenue.
Only four counties in Kenya have automated their construction permitting procedures since 2011, including Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Kiambu. However, the e-permitting system in Nairobi County has been marred by disruptions, with the system being down for over 45 days in July, August, and September.
AAK President Mugure Njendu decried the slow uptake of the e-permits, which were meant to enhance efficiency and accountability. 'It is worth noting that the county has experienced a decrease in revenue collection in the first half of the year, as compared to 2018 and it is imperative that the system is regularized to avoid further decline,' she said.
Ms Njendu noted that in some instances, it took developers up to two years to acquire a permit. She said that similar cases had been observed in Kisumu, Kiambu, and Mombasa but on a lower scale.
According to a recent Knight Frank survey, the value of approvals in Nairobi alone decreased by 19.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2019 to Sh48.54 billion from Sh60.11 billion recorded in a similar period last year.
Experts have called on the government to urgently reform the manner in which construction permits are issued. 'Permitting is a serious bottleneck for developers because it has to do with time whose misuse is also the loss of money,' said KPDA Director for Public Policy and Advocacy Gikonyo Gitonga.
