The Governor Johnson Sakaja-led Nairobi City County has waived permit requirements for freelance photographers and videographers. Artists, photographers and content creators have long complained over harassment by county officials and the requirement to pay hefty permit fees of over Ksh5,000 to shoot in the city.
The waiver was confirmed in a memo dated September 23 from Nairobi County Executive Committee Member for Finance and Economic Planning, Lawrence Wambua, to his Trade and Industrialisation counterpart.
“In exercise of the power given under the PFM Act 2012, Section 159 and the Nairobi City Council Tax Waivers Administration Act, 2013 Section 5 (2)(C), approval is hereby given that Freelance photographers and Freelance filmmakers are given waiver/exemption from payment of Single Business Permit as charged under the Nairobi City County Trade Licensing Act, 2019,” the memo read in part.
The decision is in line with campaign commitments by Sakaja who ran for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket and promised to boost the creative industry in the city by ending the harassment of photographers and videographers as well as the expensive permit fees.
Sakaja also promised a business-friendly administration as he vowed to end the harassment of traders and small businesses in the city by county officials. He has also promised to streamline business licensing by introducing a digital unified single permit.
“When we say we want to be pro-business it is not just passive to stop harassment of traders but we want to be proactive to facilitate and promote. There are many archaic laws including those that hamper creativity and innovation and we are going to weed those out,” the Governor stated on Thursday, September 22.
“Businesspeople should spend more time doing business and not chasing compliance issues.”
The directive has been welcomed by players in the creative sector including photographers, filmmakers and content creators looking forward to producing new content in the capital.
