Nairobi City County Governor Johnson Sakaja has directed building owners in Nairobi to immediately repaint their premises within the next 14 days or face closure.
In a notice issued on October 7, the Sakaja administration asserted that property owners, tenants, and management agents could also face prosecution if they failed to adhere to the directive.
To ease compliance, the Sakaja administration has announced that the ordinary fees for repainting permits have been waived for the period.
Issued by Acting County Secretary Godfrey Akumali, the directive specifically mentioned buildings within the Central Business District (CBD), Westlands, Upper Hill, Ngara, Kirinyaga Road and all designated shopping centres to undergo the exercise to meet public health and housing standards.
“This notice takes effect immediately and remains valid for fourteen days only. Failure to comply will result in statutory closure orders and prosecution in line with Sections 115, 118, and 126 of the Public Health Act,” the notice read.
This is all part of the governor's push to clean up and modernise the capital, with authorities warning that no excuses or delays will be tolerated.
This new timeline comes just over nine months after the governor issued a similar directive while speaking at the Church of Christ Africa in Kariobangi South on January 19.
In a clarification two days later, on January 21, the County Chief Officer for Public Planning, Patrick Analo, listed the areas that would be affected by the directive, including, within the Westlands Shopping Centre, Upper Hill, Ngara, Uhuru Highway, Haile Selassie Avenue, University Way, and Kirinyaga Road.
Analo further directed the landlords in the affected areas to comply with the directive within 90 days of the order or face legal action.
"This notice/order takes effect immediately and shall lapse after 90 days, after which the County Government of Nairobi shall commence necessary legal enforcement against those who will not have repainted their buildings and provided security lighting for their premises," the notice stated in part.
Under Section 118(b) of the Public Health Act (Cap 242), devolved units have been mandated to ensure that buildings with deteriorating paint do not pose health risks to the public.
Therefore, this move is part of a citywide cleaning exercise which has, so far, included orders requiring hawkers to vacate some of the CBD streets and business owners in the CBD to keep their premises clean and avoid loud systems disrupting the public, among others.
