Nairobi Governor Johson Sakaja/photo/courtesy.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja on Sunday said the construction of high-rise buildings in Kileleshwa and Lavington in Kenya will not stop.
This comes at a time when Nairobi residents are lamenting that the face of the beautiful Upper Hill is being torn down and turned into a dense jungle of high-rise buildings.
Speaking at a church service in Bahati, Nairobi County, Sakaja said the capital is in an inevitable state of expansion and there is a need to create more space to accommodate Kenyans.
“I have heard people complaining that in Kileleshwa and Lavington areas, our house was a single tower and now a house has become a house.
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Nairobi is 696 square kilometers and will have 10.5 million people in 2050. Shall we expand Nairobi? No, the only place we have to go is up,” he said.
The Nairobi governor added that President William Ruto has given him the green light to build houses in the city after removing existing restrictions that have been in place for years. He said this would pave the way for the construction of high-rise buildings under the affordable housing program.
“There used to be restrictions on the height of buildings, especially near the airport from Eastleigh Air Force Base coming down this road. I asked the President, while we were opening the houses in Kiambu and Bahati, that the reason for building the airport was to evacuate the President in an emergency,” Sakaja said.
“I told the president that if he tries, he will be stuck on the road. You can no longer be evacuated from Eastleigh. I’m glad the height restriction was lifted. We will go up 25 floors in the building we are building,” he added.
Originally the Nairobi municipality was divided into four districts, no housing rights have been issued here beyond the fourth district boundary in Kileleshwa. Lavington is divided into five districts along the Upper Spring Valley, Kyuna, and Loresho districts.
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However, this is no longer the case, and some houses are now up to 15 houses, higher than those who comply with the local law. Residents of the area complain of dumping of garbage, burst sewer pipes, and high water levels.
