Mjengo Hub Congratulates Newly Elected Kenya Institute of Planners Governing Council 2026-2029

Mjengo Hub joins the planning and built environment community in congratulating the newly constituted Governing Council of the Kenya Institute of Planners (KIP) for the 2026–2029 term.

Plan. Joakim Nyarangi has been elected as President, taking the top seat of the professional body that represents urban and regional planners across Kenya. He is joined by Plan. Dr. Mildred Ambani as Vice President.

The incoming council's office bearers are Plan. Naomi Muthoni as Honorary Secretary, Plan. Sylvia Inziani as Honorary Treasurer, and Plan. Everlyne Lelei as Honorary Registrar. Supporting them are Plan. Bonface Nyaila as Assistant Secretary, Plan. Dr. Alex Nthiwa as Assistant Treasurer, and Plan. Dr. Valentine Ochanda as Assistant Registrar.

Rounding out the council are three elected members: Plan. Kelvin Ritho, Plan. Fawcett Komollo, and Plan. Brian Abwaku. Together, this team will steer KIP's agenda through to 2029.

Mjengo Hub congratulates the full council and extends appreciation to the outgoing leadership for their dedicated service to the profession.

Planners occupy a foundational role in Kenya's built environment. From land use policy and zoning frameworks to urban design, environmental impact assessment, and spatial development planning, the profession shapes how towns and cities grow and function.

Yet the evidence on the ground tells a troubling story. Nairobi, in particular, has seen years of development carried out with little regard for planning discipline. Developments sitting boundary wall to boundary wall, with no setbacks, no green corridors, and no provision for the pedestrian, have become the norm across many neighbourhoods.

Roads that dead-end without warning, residential zones swallowed by commercial activity overnight, and drainage systems overwhelmed by construction that ignored natural water flow are not accidents. They are the cumulative result of planners being sidelined from decisions that should require their input at every stage.

The new council assumes office when this pattern cannot continue unchallenged. Ongoing reforms under the Physical and Land Use Planning Act of 2019 are redefining how counties develop their spatial plans, while the government's affordable housing push and road infrastructure expansion are placing fresh demands on planning professionals.

KIP's incoming leadership will need to do more than administer the profession. There is a pressing case for the institute to assertively engage with county governments, the State Department for Housing, and the National Construction Authority to ensure no development of scale proceeds without certified planning input.

The consequences of treating planners as an afterthought are already visible in every congested, flood-prone, and poorly serviced corner of Nairobi. Mjengo Hub wishes the incoming Governing Council every success and urges the new leadership to use this term to restore the planner's seat at the table, where it has always belonged.

All the best to the new team.