Nairobi News

Nairobi county government has launched a campaign to pull down illegally erected billboards and outdoor advertising structures within Nairobi County.

The campaign, which is being spearheaded by the Lands and Urban Planning department officials, started on September 18, 2019 and expected to continue for weeks to come.

On Thursday, the officials moved within the city center pulling down billboard erected on top of directional signage.

“The directional signage are supposed to be visible with no distraction but when you put an advert on top of a signage showing the direction to Kenyatta Avenue what do you expect people to concentrate on,” said our source.

All the billboards being pulled down were erected without the approval of the Nairobi County Lands and Urban Planning department.

By applying for the space, the county can control on where the billboards should be placed.

This is what has led to the clutter of billboards being witnessed on major roads in disregard to the county’s law, which prescribe distance between billboards.

Also by companies applying through the Urban Planning department, the county can track and know the expected amount of revenue the billboard generates

“All those who have applied are listed with the Urban Planning and it’s easy to follow up on the arrears. But if they don’t have any information on the company it comes hard to follow up on the payment,” said our source.

On Wednesday, unlicensed billboards along Waiyaki Way were flattened by county officers.

The worst affected roads are Thika Superhighway, Waiyaki Way, Mombasa, Lang’ata, and Ngong Roads.

In March this year, when a similar operation was conducted, the county said its loses at least Sh15 million every month from unapproved billboards.

The capital city has more than 200,000 signage and more than 1,000 large format advertisements from which City Hall nets a paltry Sh700 million annually against a potential of an estimated Sh2 billion.