Supreme Court invalidates permits based on unapproved Nairobi plan
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Kenyans.co.ke
Kenya’s Supreme Court ruled that construction permits issued by Nairobi County under a 2021 urban planning policy were unlawful because the policy had not been approved by the local assembly. The decision, delivered on 30 October after a challenge by Muthangari residents, leaves the county without a legal framework for assessing development applications, Kenyans.co.ke reports.
Kenya’s Supreme Court invalidated Nairobi’s reliance on an unapproved urban planning policy to issue permits for high-rise buildings, in a ruling delivered on Friday 30 October by a five-judge bench led by Chief Justice Martha Koome. The decision concerns 17- to 22-storey buildings authorised in the Muthangari neighbourhood of Westlands, Kenyans.co.ke reports.
The judges found that the Nairobi County government could not rely on the Nairobi City Development Control Policy 2021, which had not been approved by the County Assembly. The Rhapta Road Residents Association challenged the permits, arguing that zoning rules limited construction to four storeys and that the projects risked putting pressure on water supplies, sewers, roads and other infrastructure.
The Supreme Court also criticised the Environment and Land Court and the Court of Appeal for using the same document to set limits of 16 and then 20 storeys. It nevertheless refused to order the buildings’ demolition, finding insufficient evidence to establish environmental degradation or a violation of residents’ constitutional rights.
