Engineers Expose Sakaja’s Digital Planning System as Loophole for Stealing Millions

The Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) has launched a scathing attack on Nairobi County’s digital development approval system, claiming it has been “purposely made to fail” to facilitate corruption and bribery.

In a strongly-worded statement released yesterday, the engineering body alleges that Governor Johnson Sakaja’s much-touted Nairobi Planning & Development Management System (NPDMS) has become a tool for extracting millions from developers and engineers.

The IEK, representing over 12,000 engineers nationwide, claims that despite the establishment of the online platform, development applications face deliberate delays unless applicants pay bribes or make physical visits to county offices.

“The corrupt system is designed to manufacture desperation inducing the need to bribe to get the approvals and save face,” said Eng. Shammah Kiteme, President of IEK, in the statement.

According to engineers who spoke on condition of anonymity, approvals that should take weeks are deliberately stretched to as long as a year, forcing desperate professionals to pay bribes to move their projects forward.

“Our clients think engineers are incompetent and the credibility dent is a career threat to our members,” the IEK statement reads, highlighting how the situation is damaging the professional reputation of engineers.

The engineering body outlined specific failings of the digital system that they claim are not accidental but deliberately engineered to defeat the purpose of digitalization:

– Delayed or missing payment confirmations
– Unclear workflows and feedback channels
– Excessive manual interventions despite digital submissions
– Lack of integration with other key institutions

The IEK statement comes at a critical time when Nairobi is experiencing a construction boom, with ambitious infrastructure projects planned across the city. Engineers warn that corruption in the approval process not only slows development but potentially compromises public safety by allowing substandard projects to proceed through bribery.

The situation has reached a crisis point where the IEK is calling for intervention from multiple oversight agencies, including the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

They’ve demanded a thorough audit of the approval process and accountability for those involved in corruption.

When contacted, Nairobi County officials declined to comment directly on the allegations but stated that they are “continuously working to improve service delivery across all departments.”

Urban planning experts note that inefficiencies in the development approval process have wider economic implications, driving up the cost of construction and housing in a city already struggling with affordability issues.

“Every day of delay costs developers money through financing charges, delayed returns, and inflation of construction materials,” said Dr. Jane Muthoni, an urban planning specialist. “These costs are ultimately passed on to Nairobi residents.”

The IEK has offered to work with the county to create a truly transparent and efficient approval system, emphasizing that public interest must be placed above individual gain.

As pressure mounts on Governor Sakaja’s administration to address these allegations, questions remain about how deeply the corruption extends within the county government and whether the digital system was compromised from its inception.