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The lack of proper city planning costs for Kenya is expensive, experts say

IMARA DAIMA
Anami Daudi, 21, lives in the poor Mukuru kwa Njenga neighborhood where she was born. He is the head of the Amusha Mukuru Youth Group (established Mukuru), an organization founded by local residents in 2005 to voice their problems.

Challenges in this region include the lack of a clean living environment, clean water, sanitation, good roads, health services, schools, and economic opportunities.

Hairy

The settlement, located east of Nairobi and stranded inside a large Industrial Estate, is home to around 301,000 people.

Mr Anami said he joined the group because he felt an urge to push for changes in his life and the lives of his fellow residents.

"We are taking part in community development projects and civic and political education for possible solutions. When I get married, I want to live in a clean and safe environment with access to basic needs, "he commented.


Mr Anami said the only significant public school in the area, Kwa Njenga Elementary School, could not accommodate all students.

"Parents must seek permission to enter private schools. The costs at these schools are not affordable by most parents so the number of high school dropouts ".

Professor Isaac Karanja Mwangi, head of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Nairobi, warned that Kenya is in crisis because of a lack of modern planning laws and policies.

The battle prioritizes planning lost during the constitution-making process, said don.

"The Bomas delegation concentrated more on political and institutional reforms, failed to combine planning, which is an integral part of policy and institutional reform and a key factor in realizing social justice and equality," he said.

Susceptible

While the Constitution established the National Land Commission to deal with land registration, administration and transport, the Bomas team failed to consider land in the context of broader progressive planning.

On the other hand, political patronage continues to hamper planned development.

"Ignoring this plan presents a daunting challenge for present and future generations to balance socio-economic well-being with mushrooming environmental problems, especially in the face of global warming, food security, and good standard human settlements.

"In countries that have realized rapid growth for their people, land and planning are seen as complementary problems," said Prof Mwangi.

He warned that the lack of a clear planning role in the Constitution had made regional leadership vulnerable to haphazard planning.

"Even if citizens are empowered by the Constitution to have their opinions, it is very important that regional executives do not involve planners during strategic development mapping," he said.

Wafula Nabutola, a professor at the Kenya Government School, called for coordinated planning from the grass roots to the national level.

PROTECTION

"Planning creates economic opportunities. From the city fathers to village elders, all must learn from planning that failed in the past, "he said.

Prof. Nabutola served as chairman of the Nairobi Central Business District Association between 2005 and 2008.

The lobby of the business community pressured the Nairobi City Council which did not function to resolve the chaos created by the city which was largely unplanned.

It follows the 10-year reign of the Nairobi City Commission - March 1983 to December 1992 - marked by the inability to plan and manage a rapidly growing city population.

The Commission took over the framework planning department which is struggling to improve infrastructure. While the planning department oversees the design of North Mathare, Kayole, Dandora, Umoja II and Komarock plantations for community-friendly staff.

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