Mombasa Builders Pay Sh1 Million Bribe for Permits

Property developers in Mombasa are facing intense pressure to pay hefty bribes to county government officials in order to expedite the issuance of building approvals, a new study by the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK) has found.

The survey, which was financed by the Business Advocacy Fund, revealed that investors in Mombasa pay bribes of up to Sh1 million to “facilitate” acquisition of building permits – ten times the amount of paid by developers in Kisumu, Uasin Gishu and Kajiado.

The study further noted that builders in Kakamega are required to pay up to Sh50,000 in bribes, while developers in Nakuru pay up to a maximum of Sh20,000.

Kiambu investors part with a minimum of Sh30, 000 – with no maximum limit.

Architects have blamed the rising cases of corruption in the construction industry on the manual application processes where applicants are required to move from one office to the other to follow up on their applications.

“Manual applications and approval processes where applicants have to follow up from one office to another to seek approval cause delays and are costly,” the report says.

Interestingly, the report notes that Nairobi, Nyeri and Machakos have no “facilitation fee” or informal “gift” demanded by various State agencies to expedite approvals.

AAK is now calling for the reduction of the eight to 10 steps in the buildings’ approval process, which takes an average of 150 days for an application to be passed.

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