Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja on Wednesday, April 24, announced that the county was banning all pending building development approvals.
This was in response to the continued heavy downpour in the capital which had put major infrastructure at risk of collapse.
"We have halted all pending building development approvals until we are able to review those that are continuing across the city," he stated.
Sakaja added that his administration was banning with immediate effect all excavations within Nairobi County.
"All excavations of buildings especially those that have gone close to their neighbours have been stopped forthwith because of structural integrity of the building cannot be assured at this time," Sakaja added.
The governor announced this following pressure from activists to halt approvals of buildings in the city which do not adhere to urban planning codes.
Earlier, a defiant Sakaja had announced that the county would continue giving out permits to various contractors aiming to construct up to 75-storey buildings.
These skyscrapers were supposed to be constructed in leafy suburbs of Kilimani, Kileleshwa, Lavington and other areas within Nairobi.
This was before relentless rain made most of the leafy suburbs unhabitable.
The situation was particularly dire in Kilimani, where residents of the affluent Elite Court along Ole Dume Road being forced to evacuate from their homes.
Erecting flats on riparian lands was identified as one of the reasons Kilimani and other regions in the city were flooding.
Remarking on the matter, Sakaja revealed that henceforth, no building would be approved to be built on riparian land.
