Nairobi assembly questions credentials of development-control officials
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Two Nairobi County Assembly committees are examining whether senior lands and planning officials hold the required qualifications and whether some have stayed in acting posts beyond the six-month limit.
A joint sitting of two Nairobi County Assembly committees has opened an inquiry into the qualifications, appointment records and employment status of senior officials in the county department that handles development applications and land-use control.
County Public Service Board chairperson Thomas Kasowa told the Lands, Planning and Housing Committee and the Labour Committee that several officers had remained in acting positions beyond the six months permitted under public service regulations, according to Mjengo Hub.
Legislators questioned whether some directors and deputy directors hold the academic and professional qualifications their positions require, and examined promotions said to have been made outside established procedures. The department has an authorised staffing establishment of 962 employees, although the figure does not show how many posts are filled.
Officials whose appointments are under scrutiny include suspended Chief Officer Patrick Analo, Director of Development Management Dominic Mutegi, Director of Urban Planning and Research Ruth Muroki, Director of Lands Survey Peter Wanyoike, Assistant Director for Development Approvals Frederick Ochanda and Geoffrey Cheryot, who is associated with legal affairs.
Babadogo MCA Geoffrey Majiwa, who chairs the Lands, Planning and Housing Committee, questioned the continued exercise of senior administrative powers by officials whose acting appointments had run past the prescribed period. The department reviews proposed developments, assesses land-use compliance and takes part in enforcement against unauthorised construction.
The inquiry follows October complaints from the Architectural Association of Kenya, the Institution of Engineers of Kenya and the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya about the handling of building approvals, the sidelining of technical staff and the composition of the Urban Planning Technical Committee. Earlier, the Commission on Administrative Justice recommended legal and disciplinary action against several officials after investigating irregular approvals.
It also comes amid renewed scrutiny of construction oversight after the 23 October collapse of an 18-storey building under construction in Eastleigh, which the Director of Public Prosecutions has referred to investigators. The committees have not established any link between the staffing questions and that disaster, and have yet to issue findings.