New architects lobby president spells out agenda

Newly elected President of the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK), George Ndege, has prioritised five key issues in the built environment in the next two years.

Mr Ndege was the only nominee during the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) last week and will serve with five members of the AAK Executive Committee.

They include Brenda Nyawara (vice president), Ruth Wanjiku (secretary), Diana Musyoka (treasurer), Nashon Tambo (treasurer) and Bernard Segecha (secretary). He takes over from Florence Nyole, who served for two years and whom she deputised.

Mr Ndege said he would prioritise governance and sustainability, regulation of professionals, development control, business practice, and AAK enterprise.

Under governance and sustainability, he said he would streamline AAK into a lean and efficient structure.

“I will also focus on ensuring chapters have long-term financial sustainability, expand revenue streams, and invest resources in building the fundraising capacity of the association,” said Mr Ndege during a gala dinner following his election.

On regulating professionals in the industry, he said he would continue advocacy to achieve legislation for umbrella regulation and a greater degree of self-regulation.

“Half of AAK has four chapters that are either emerging or non-regulated. I will also continue with advocacy to achieve regulation of emerging or unregulated professions, ensure regulation of technicians and licensees, and act on issues of foreign practitioners,” said Mr Ndege. “I hope to get great regulation of their [foreign practitioners] activities. By law, they are supposed to work with a local professional, but that’s not the case. Most of them may not even be well qualified. They also exploit young professionals by using their names to register companies and projects.”

On development control, he said it’s one of the major pain points in the country, which is obscure and corrupt and causes the development of irregular buildings. “More than eight buildings out of 10 that you see are irregular, and the majority of us here are doing just two of those buildings, and the rest are being done by other people who are not supposed to do that,” said Mr Ndge.

He said he plans to achieve this through stepping up advocacy on the development of a one-stop solution for development control in the country.

The new lobby boss also plans to work with county governments to build capacity to efficiently manage development control and with national and county governments to roll out effective regularisation of developments.

In business practice, he plans to rationalise documents that professionals in the industry use to stem legal hurdles that come across after doing construction.

This, he said, can be done by developing standard operating procedures (SOPs).

The new president said he will also seek to capitalise on opportunities in green buildings and financing through a partnership with the Green Building Performance Network (GBPN).

“We have started a discussion with Equity Bank and later hopefully KCB Group, which holds the biggest green bond in Kenya, to improve the business environment for all of us,” he said.

Mr Ndege said he would also seek to empower AAK members to be good entrepreneurs outside their professional practice. He also aims to enhance debt collection for consultations, digitise contracts and SOP documents, form a standing disciplinary committee, and offer legal advice for the general association and members.

On AAK Enterprise, Mr Ndge plans to hold conventions and masterclasses, modelled as business, identify co-working spaces as hubs for built environment consultants, and seek other business opportunities, merchandising, and online shops. Speaking at the event, his predecessor, Ms Nyole, said AAK, under her leadership, upheld its advocacy role and safeguarded the interests of its members and the industry.

“In promoting the membership of AAK, I have immensely enjoyed working with the eight chapters and Mombasa branch by creating specific visibility to each profession of AAK through events, media, and the vibrant Je, Una Mjengo Campaigns,” she said. 

She was recently appointed as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and AIA International country representative for Kenya under the AIA sub-Saharan Africa section.

“Targeted advocacy and increased visibility via AAK communication have seen us push for enhanced regulatory frameworks to regulate all our professions; despite the occupation of public works, we are now in dialogue and have revived the coalition of the built environment.”

Ms Nyole said during her tenure, the lobby oversaw the enactment of the Building Code 2024 through the National Construction Authority (NCA).

“It was a long-standing pending item for any leadership over the years. Much more needs to be done, and I can confirm that the NCA Act and its regulations are now under review with the launch of the committee tasked with the work yesterday. Madam Chair, we request that the nominating bodies are fully engaged in during the review,” she said.

Key membership value additions, she said, include the Benevolent Fund, Job Placement Services, and strategic partnerships. Collaborations with AAK, Ms Nyole added, have taken centre stage in helping to achieve some of their roles since AAK’s advocacy efforts are best pursued through strategic partnerships and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

“Our engagements with key institutions, both locally and internationally, have strengthened our capacity to influence policy, enhance professional standards, and drive sustainable urban development. To this end, AAK maintains an active presence in various working groups, committees, boards, and taskforces, ensuring that our voice is represented in key decision-making forums,” she said.