Mombasa Governor Issues 7-Day Ultimatum to Contractors

Mombasa county governor Abdulswamad Sheriff Nassir and other county officials
Mombasa county governor Abdulswamad Sheriff Nassir and other county officials on Thursday, September 22, 2022
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Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Sheriff Nassir on Wednesday, November 23, gave a seven-day ultimatum to unscrupulous contractors involved in non-compliant buildings to apply for development permission. 

According to a public notice seen by Kenyans.co.ke, Nassir noted that the move was occasioned by the ongoing county audit of buildings. 

He noted that a building audit task force had found gross violation of construction regulations and some did not have requisite permits. 

Nairobi officials supervise the demolition of a wall on a road reserve along Access Road in South C estate on July 16, 2020.
Nairobi officials supervise the demolition of a wall on a road reserve along Access Road in South C estate on July 16, 2020.
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"The ongoing building audit in Mombasa County as established under the Executive Order No. 3 of 2022 has noted high levels of non-compliance of ongoing developments against set standards. 

"The building audit task force has found serious violations regarding building construction without necessary permits or in contravention of the conditions of approval," read part of the notice. 

The governor also issued four more orders regarding non-compliance developments; ordering the immediate stoppage of dangerous constructions and the subsequent prosecution of the contractors involved.

He also ordered the enforcement and compliance to stop orders issued by the county government. In a bid to effect the crackdown, Nassir directed for regularization of non-compliant developments that would involve an application for county approval on the Electronic Development Application Management System (EDAMS). 

Alluding to non-compliant developments, the governor noted that such buildings involved constructions carried out without county approval, ones with an unapproved change of use, and ones with illegal sewer connections to storm water drains. 

In addition, the non-compliant developments included ongoing projects without valid hoarding and dumping permits and developments occupied without occupation permits. 

"Upon lapse of the regularization period non-compliant developments will be penalized and developers prosecuted in accordance with the Law," read part of the notice.

Members of the public were advised to seek guidance from the Building Audit Taskforce located at the Bima Towers, 3rd Floor Department of Lands, Housing and Urban Planning.

The move is part of a crackdown on non-compliant buildings across the country after three buildings collapsed within a span of five days. 

In Nairobi County, governor Johnson Skaja launched a multi-agency team to inspect all buildings in the county. 

The move by governors came in the wake of incidents of storey buildings collapsing in Nairobi and Kiambu counties.

A collage of Nairobi Governor interacting with Nairobi residents and a photo of the collapsed building in Kasarani.
A collage of Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja interacting with Nairobi residents and a photo of the collapsed building in Kasarani.
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Sakaja
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