NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 13 \u2013 The Real Estate Stakeholders Association (RESA) has dismissed as misleading a recent report by an architects\u2019 association claiming that 85 per cent of buildings in Kenya are substandard.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi on Monday, RESA strongly opposed the findings, saying the claims were unsubstantiated and risked undermining public confidence in the country\u2019s real estate sector.<\/p>\n
In a statement read by the association\u2019s spokesperson, Perminus Kariuki of Nyota Njema Real Estate, RESA noted that architects are directly involved in the design and approval of most developments undertaken by its members and had not raised compliance concerns during the approval stages.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we fully acknowledge the need for continuous enforcement of building standards and the elimination of illegal developments, such a sweeping statement is misleading, alarmist, and unsupported by verified data,\u201d Kariuki said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt unfairly undermines public confidence in Nairobi\u2019s real estate sector and risks causing unnecessary panic among property owners, investors, and tenants.\u201d<\/p>\n
RESA Chairman Dr Chrispus Wachira of Almond Properties reaffirmed that all members of the association comply with existing construction laws and regulatory requirements.<\/p>\n
He said RESA enforces internal self-regulation mechanisms, including mandatory display of compliance certificates at construction sites.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came together as an association to self-regulate and to end the blanket blame that has often been placed on investors,\u201d Wachira said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe urge that individual companies and stakeholders responsible for substandard buildings be held accountable, rather than condemning the entire sector for the actions of a few.\u201d<\/p>\n
The association\u2019s lobbying committee chairperson, Surveyor Kigathi Kionywe of Hotstep Holdings Ltd, said RESA conducts annual renewal of members\u2019 certificates and takes disciplinary action against firms found to be non-compliant.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a company is found to be non-compliant, its membership is not renewed, and the public is formally notified that it is no longer part of RESA,\u201d Kionywe stated.<\/p>\n
RESA also addressed allegations linking Kenya\u2019s real estate sector to money laundering, following the ongoing Minnesota money laundering investigations.<\/p>\n
Vice Chairperson Zuena Wambui distanced the association from the claims, stating that RESA does not condone illicit financial activities and supports ongoing investigations by Kenyan and US authorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cRESA and its members are not involved in money laundering or the use of real estate as a vehicle for illegal financial flows,\u201d Wambui said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe encourage thorough, independent investigations by the Government of Kenya, its relevant agencies, and enforcement institutions in the United States.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 13 \u2013 The Real Estate Stakeholders Association (RESA) has dismissed as misleading a recent report by an architects\u2019 association claiming that 85 per cent of buildings in Kenya are substandard. Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi on Monday, RESA strongly opposed the findings, saying the claims were unsubstantiated and risked undermining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128553\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}