Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said Sunday that the construction of high-rise apartments in Kenya's affluent neighbourhoods of Kileleshwa and Lavington will continue.
This comes amid complaints from Nairobi residents that the city's opulent suburbs are being shattered and transformed into concrete jungles of high-rise apartment buildings.
Speaking at a church service in Bahati, Nairobi County, Sakaja stated that the capital is on an unstoppable expansion path and that more space to accommodate more Kenyans is required.
"I have heard people complaining that areas of Kileleshwa and Lavington, our homes were one-storey now apartments have come. Nairobi is 696 square kilometers in 2050 it will have a population of 10.5 million people. Will we expand Nairobi? No the only place we have to go is up" he said.
The Nairobi Governor added that President William Ruto gave him permission to build high-rise apartments in the city after lifting an age-old restriction.
He stated that the move will allow for the construction of high-rise apartments under the Affordable Housing Programme.
The Nairobi City Council initially classified Kileleshwa as Zone Four, and no building permits were issued above the fourth floor.
Lavington was classified as Zone Five, alongside Upper Spring Valley, Kyuna, and Loresho.
This is no longer the case, as some apartments now scale up to 15 floors, towering over those who had initially complied.