LGI News: It’s not too late to slay poor urban planning ogre

From BD Africa (August 30, 2007)

By Emmanuel Wetang’ula

30-August-2007: Kiserian town is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

The above observation was made by the Constitutional Court in a decision that will have far reaching implications on many towns in the country suffering unco-ordinated and unplanned development.

As Nairobi teeters on the verge of bursting at its seams, it was made known that the city does not have a master plan, the last one having been formulated over two decades ago and largely ignored.

Similarly, other towns in the country have never had master plans. This has resulted in uncontrolled development, leading to the mushrooming of slums, pollution, traffic congestion and insecurity.

Back to the case: Waweru v/s Republic arose where some plot owners in Kiserian Township were charged with discharging raw sewage into a public water source and the environment.

The accused had erected residential cum commercial buildings on plots whose plans had been approved by Olkejuado County Council. Every building had a septic tank for disposal of solid waste.

The court argued that Kiserian is located on a water table and the buildings’ plans had been approved. However, due to the absence of a sewage plant, waste is emptied into Kiserian River, threatening the lives of users downstream.

The buildings’ owners were definitely strangers to the principle of sustainable development.

The court ruled that no further development should be undertaken in Kiserian Township without satisfying environmental and health requirements, including the provision of septic tanks and exhauster services.

The decision spells out the folly of uncontrolled development and the astronomical cost to be borne in trying to reverse the damage already done to the ecosystem.

It is obvious that law enforcement agencies have been the greatest failure. The grabbing of every little space, building across rivers, degazeting of forests, and so forth, have been the role of the Lands Office and Local Authorities.

Be that as it may, it is not too late to remedy the grim situation as per the judgment. Regulating land use is in the interest of the greater public, to secure proper resource utilisation and management.

The police force’s power is an attribute of the sovereignty of the State. It is high time such powers were invoked to save us from ourselves.

Wetang’ula is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya.