A National Assembly committee wants several buildings in Nairobi demolished for encroaching on waterways.
The lawmakers, who were looking into the annexing of riparian land in the city, visited Makadara Estate where the found a mall with Ngong River flowing beneath it.
This was explained by a conflict between the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the Water Resources Authority (WRA) as NEMA had condemned the building only for the latter to grant a licence allowing the creation of a canal.
The Committee on Environment also went to arboretum where they found the wall of an estate built on a river bed while another developer had erected a fence across the river as he prepares to begin construction of a new building.
A high-end hotel in Westlands is also on the spot as the MPs disclosed that its wall encroached on a river bed.
Other estates identified among areas with developments sitting on riparian land include Riverside Drive, Westlands, Parklands, Limuru Road, Lang’ata Road, Arboretum Road, Spring Valley, Globe Cinema Roundabout and Fuata Nyayo Estate in South B.
Kitusuru, Umoja, Roysambu, South C, Githurai and Lang’ata have also been earmarked due to a number of suspicious developments.
The committee led by Kareke Mbiuki accused relevant authorities of perpetuating impunity and sleeping on the job.
“Somebody somewhere closed their eyes and sent their brains to sleep while all this encroachment was happening. That person needs to be held accountable,” stated Kinango MP Benjamin Tayari.
[caption caption="An aerial view of Nairobi CBD"]
[/caption]
Mbiuki, who is also Maara MP, called for investigations to be done into how developers acquired licences in the first place.
“We call upon the Director of Criminal Investigations to move with speed and investigate the circumstances under which the licenses for these constructions were issued,” he asserted.
[caption caption="Inside the National Assembly"]
[/caption]
