Politics and policy
By BDAfrica.com REPORTER
In Summary
- The dispute involves a recently completed four-storey building whose construction the association unsuccessfully tried to prevent.
- NSSF offered 35 residential and 14 commercial units for sale in newspaper advertisements that ran on Sunday, August 3, this year.
A row has erupted between the National Social
Security Fund (NSSF) and a homeowners association over the planned sale
of a Sh400 million block of shops and houses in Nairobi’s Embakasi area.
The dispute involves a recently completed four-storey
building whose construction the association unsuccessfully tried to
prevent.
Nyayo Estate Residents Association (Nera) accuses
NSSF of perpetrating “a serious hoax” on unsuspecting buyers by offering
residential units that don’t exist in what it describes as a commercial
building.
“They have advertised the sale of (19)
three-bedroom maisonettes that are non-existent,” Nera secretariat
senior chairman George Ochola charged in a letter to residents.
“This is a serious hoax and (will lead to) the illegal collection of money from the public.”
NSSF offered 35 residential and 14 commercial units
for sale in newspaper advertisements that ran on Sunday, August 3, this
year. As much as Sh4 million was collected in non-refundable
application fees for each of the earlier phases involving hundreds of
units.
Mr Ochola insists NSSF has sold all 4,774 units
approved for development in the housing estate adding that the workers’
pension fund would need the approval of resident-owners to build any
further houses there.
However, he says: “They have arrogantly overlooked all our concerns.”
Attempts by BDAfrica.com and Business Daily to reach NSSF CEO and Managing Trustee Richard Lang’at for comment Friday were unsuccessful.
The advert stoked controversy by outlining application terms for the properties that are seen as favouring the rich.
The homeowners are also infuriated that NSSF
insists on selling 16 of the new ‘Phase Six’ units as one-bedroom
houses. The association says they had meetings with NSSF and the Nairobi
County government in which they proposed that the disputed block to
only house shops and offices.
“Single bedroom units are a complete shift from the
target market that this estate was based on,” argues Mr Ochola, whose
position in Nera is elective. “The challenges that go with that are
obvious.”
Nera is attempting to complete the handover of the
estate from NSSF, which funded the development, to the homeowners it
represents to prevent what it terms “grabbing of every available (piece
of land) in the name of Phase Six”.
The county, they say, cancelled a planned
development NSSF had attempted last year. The association now says it
may be forced to take legal action against the fund to block any further
attempts to develop land within the estate.
A row has erupted between the National Social Security Fund
(NSSF) and a homeowners association over the planned sale of a Sh400
million block of shops and houses in Nairobi’s Embakasi area.
The dispute involves a recently completed four-storey
building whose construction the association unsuccessfully tried to
prevent.
Nyayo Estate Residents Association (Nera) accuses
NSSF of perpetrating “a serious hoax” on unsuspecting buyers by offering
residential units that don’t exist in what it describes as a commercial
building.
“They have advertised the sale of (19)
three-bedroom maisonettes that are non-existent,” Nera secretariat
senior chairman George Ochola charged in a letter to residents.
“This is a serious hoax and (will lead to) the illegal collection of money from the public.”
NSSF offered 35 residential and 14 commercial units
for sale in newspaper advertisements that ran on Sunday, August 3, this
year. As much as Sh4 million was collected in non-refundable
application fees for each of the earlier phases involving hundreds of
units.
Mr Ochola insists NSSF has sold all 4,774 units
approved for development in the housing estate adding that the workers’
pension fund would need the approval of resident-owners to build any
further houses there.
However, he says: “They have arrogantly overlooked all our concerns.”
Attempts by BDAfrica.com and Business Daily to reach NSSF CEO and Managing Trustee Richard Lang’at for comment Friday were unsuccessful.
The advert stoked controversy by outlining application terms for the properties that are seen as favouring the rich.
The homeowners are also infuriated that NSSF
insists on selling 16 of the new ‘Phase Six’ units as one-bedroom
houses. The association says they had meetings with NSSF and the Nairobi
County government in which they proposed that the disputed block to
only house shops and offices.
“Single bedroom units are a complete shift from the
target market that this estate was based on,” argues Mr Ochola, whose
position in Nera is elective. “The challenges that go with that are
obvious.”
Nera is attempting to complete the handover of the
estate from NSSF, which funded the development, to the homeowners it
represents to prevent what it terms “grabbing of every available (piece
of land) in the name of Phase Six”.
The county, they say, cancelled a planned
development NSSF had attempted last year. The association now says it
may be forced to take legal action against the fund to block any further
attempts to develop land within the estate.
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