18 Nairobi Buildings Get “Approved” After Hackers Gain Access To System

BySid Chudasama June 21, 2021

1 min read

“The hacking paved the way for illegal building approvals to be made and there were 18 illegal approvals done when the system was hacked into, forcing us to suspend it,” said Maj. Gen Badi.

At least 18 illegal building approvals were made earlier this month after Nairobi County’s online development plan system’s defense mechanisms were breached, Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has said.

NMS Director-General Mohamed Badi said the hackers were City Hall staff who collude with outsiders to do the illegal approvals. He continued, saying that some of the hackers have since been nabbed after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) was alerted with some of the investigations still continuing.

“The hackers are not strangers or outsiders but retired county staff who had access to the system and are now working with outsiders to do illegal approvals. It’s unfortunate that desperate city residents landed in the hands of these conniving dealers and got illegal approvals,” added Badi.

Mr Badi made it clear that NMS will not allow the construction of buildings which have not been approved by the Nairobi City County Urban Planning Technical Committee.

Last week, NMS suspended approval of development plans in Nairobi after the Quick Response (QR) code system, which is part of the e-construction development plans application system used for the application of building plans and construction permits, was hacked into.