The Architect Association of Kenya has said the built environment in Mombasa has been infiltrated by the "matatu culture" where anything goes, as long as one has money to part with.
This, AAK says, is what causes many buildings to be erected with minimal supervision and no regard for the environment or safety measures.
“There is now ‘matatuism’ in our built environment. Just the same way matatu drivers break all the rules of the universe after paying bribes to traffic officers, some developers have borrowed the same modus operandi after bribing some county officials,” AAK Mombasa branch chairman Dancan Odhiambo said on Monday.
Stung by the hard-hitting critique, the county swung into action on Tuesday.
Led by chief enforcement officer Omar Bedzimba and chief building inspector Abubakar Alhad, the county enforcement officers suspended five illegal constructions and arrested developers, and engineers, who have defied stay orders that were served before.
Works at three of the buildings had been suspended after they were handled by architects, who had been blacklisted by the county following the collapse and subsequent demolition of an 11-storey residential building at Kilifi corner in Mvita subcounty on April 9.
“As a county, we have records that show this site’s work has been suspended. We have come here three times to bring stay orders and suspension letters. No action has been taken [by the developer] and the site is still operational contrary to the law,” Alhad said at one of the suspended sites in Ganjoni.
“Let this be a warning to the workers here and in any other site that has been suspended. We will not relent. We will ensure there is discipline in our industry.”
Bedzimba said some of the developers are taking shortcuts and want to reap even where they did not sow.
“Do not take this site to be yours. You are only a worker here. So, if you hear that some construction site has been suspended, do not go there working. You will be arrested,” the chief enforcement officer said.
“The county government of Mombasa's lands, housing and urban renewal department warns developers against violating building regulations since the offences will be met with firm legal action,” he said.
Odhiambo praised the action taken by the county enforcement officers but insisted more has to be done.
“The urban degeneration we are witnessing is just a symptom of systemic failure in built and natural environment governance,” he said.
Odhiambo said reducing the human interface and automating the approval seeking procedures will greatly help reduce malpractice.
“The online submission of drawings, plans and all the necessary documents for approval, which was introduced by the World Bank in 2015 was supposed to be a game changer in the built industry, but we see that is not working and we believe this is by design,” Odhiambo said.
He said the Mombasa Electronic Development Application and Management System (e-DAMS) is being used as a bait to lure developers into paying bribes.
The e-DAMs is an online platform where professionals such as registered architects, planners, surveyors, engineers and contractors can easily and conveniently access Mombasa county government development control services.
Odhiambo said, “The e-DAMS platform, originally intended to streamline approvals, has been deliberately made manual and opaque. It is widely viewed by stakeholders as a channel for soliciting bribes, undermining integrity in the development process.”
Governor Abdulswamad Nassir last Friday said a clique of five engineers and architects are being used by wealthy developers to get approvals from the county through the backdoor.
“What they do is they look for either draftsmen then they go to someone approved by the necessary boards and simply stamp documents,” he said.
Nassir said some individuals masquerade as engineers and architects using rented credentials.
“To stamp this out, Mombasa is going to have its system linked with Boraqs [Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors] and the Engineers Board of Kenya. Equally, every project is going to be assigned engineers and architects, who will have to be on record with the relevant organisations,” the county chief said.
Architect Odhiambo said a shortage of building inspectors has also played a significant role in the lack of supervision of the buildings that sprout everywhere in Mombasa.
But Nassir said this will be addressed by the hiring of 11 more inspectors to enhance the inspection process.
These will have ring-fenced gadgets meaning they will only work when at site and not far away from the site of inspection.
AAK said as an association, they will take action against members who engage in credential renting at the expense of safety standards.
