Founder, Biliki Foundation, Abdirashid Biliki Hassan has warned of deep governance failures driving urban chaos, citing ignored planning laws, entrenched cartels, and lack of accountability.
Biliki says existing solutions on waste, zoning, and infrastructure are deliberately sidelined, leaving residents exposed to flooding, congestion, and unsafe developments, with authorities failing to act despite repeated complaints.
Speaking on Monday, he described Nairobi’s urban challenges as systemic, arguing that long-standing solutions have been repeatedly ignored.
“Solutions for how to manage waste exist, and it can't be a dump site. Nations moved from dump sites a long time ago,” he said. “There’s recycling, there’s using it for energy but the people who run the county government of Nairobi know such plans but they ignore.”
He attributed this inaction to entrenched interests, saying, “This current system works for those people who benefit from it, and they're the ones who resist the actual change that should be there.”
Hassan warned that sidelining technical experts in urban development has left the city vulnerable to disasters. “When you have experts in building, architects, planners, when they are ignored, the disaster is just around the corner,” he said.
He pointed to poor zoning and unregulated expansion as key drivers of Nairobi’s infrastructure strain, particularly in areas such as South C.
Flooding, he said, is a predictable outcome of poor planning and ignored environmental realities. “We’re seeing water naturally flow down from Nairobi’s higher grounds into these low-lying zones, effectively turning them into catchment areas, and this is why flooding has been a persistent problem for years.” he explained, referencing recurring issues since the late 1990s.
Rapid, uncoordinated urban growth has also transformed residential zones into mixed-use areas without corresponding infrastructure.
“South C has become mixed commercial and residential. You have big hospitals coming up but where is the parking?” he asked. “There is no infrastructure. I haven’t seen any walk path being designed with 70 or 80 high-rise apartments coming up.”
According to Hassan, developers are often allowed to bypass planning requirements, worsening congestion and safety risks.
“If you're having shops, you should not take the walk path that exists, but now you take the existing parking area,” he said. “Residents are being forced onto the roads due to lack of proper walkways, exposing them to serious and unnecessary danger.”
He further highlighted widespread encroachment on road reserves, saying it reflects deeper governance failures. “Whatever space had been allocated for this road has been eaten up by someone and you see it throughout the city,” he said.
Despite numerous attempts by residents to engage authorities, Hassan said little action has been taken. “Residents’ associations have written dozens of letters to the county authorities, yet their concerns have consistently been ignored without any action taken.”
Hassan also criticized what he described as a culture of impunity within public institutions. “What we are looking at is the proliferation of impunity, where people are abusing the powers they have been given,” he said. “They are mismanaging the powers that we have given them,” referring to political leaders in office.
Reflecting on recent building collapses, he questioned the government’s response, saying it lacked accountability and follow-through. “The day the rescue mission ended was the last day we saw any government agency on the ground,” he said. “No one has come back and the debris is still there.”
He added that residents were forced to take matters into their own hands. “The community actually had to come and do the clean-ups,” he said.
Hassan concluded by calling for a return to fundamental planning principles and stronger leadership. “A county like Nairobi is a very serious undertaking,” he said. “If you choose to ignore existing laws, you deny yourself the very tools meant to address and resolve these issues.”
