Kasarani Building: 3 Die As Sakaja Orders DCI To Arrest Developer

Sakaja promised to have the developer arrested and charged in court and instructed the Ministry of Lands and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to find him, as he has since gone into hiding.

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
Nov 16, 2022 - 13:18 Updated: Nov 16, 2022 - 13:19
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Kasarani Building: 3 Die As Sakaja Orders DCI To Arrest Developer
The site of the collapsed building in Kasarani on November 15, 2022. /DAILY NATION

Nairobi Governor, Johnson Sakaja, has vowed to take action on a rogue developer of a building in Kasarani which collapsed on Tuesday, November 15.

So far, three people, including a vendor, have been confirmed dead in the building collapse. Speaking during a visit to the site, Sakaja announced that he reshuffled the technical committee tasked with the approval of buildings after he found loopholes leading to a series of buildings collapsing in the city.

The Governor stated that the building was deemed unsafe by officials from the National Construction Authority (NCA), but the developer went on with the construction, colluding with county officials, and ignoring the danger that was to follow.

Sakaja promised to have the developer arrested and charged in court with murder and instructed the Ministry of Lands and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to find him, as he has since gone into hiding.

"You will see action, already we have changed the technical approval committee in Nairobi, and we will be issuing the names today. We will conduct investigations and if we find any official having been culpable at any point you will go home," Sakaja stated. 

"Yesterday (Tuesday) NCA was here and they closed down that site. But the contractor knows that in such cases you just have to pay a few people here and there and you go on," he added. 

Sakaja, who was in the company of Lands Cabinet Secretary Zachariah Njeru and a host of area leaders, further promised to rein in the culprits involved in the irregular approval of the building.

He asserted that the developer was responsible for the loss of lives after the 7-storey building collapsed.

"Because of impunity, he decided to go on. He should be charged with murder because that is murder. How much money can replace the lives lost?" the Governor posed. 

"We are using the wrong building materials and wrong standards of building yet our country has standards of building."

Kenya Red Cross officials said on Wednesday afternoon that six others were rescued. The number of people trapped under the rubble remains unclear, but locals at the site said around eight or nine people were near the building when it collapsed.

One person was on that day rushed to hospital in critical condition. Two women who were helping with the building's construction told the media that they noticed cracks on the ground floor walls in the morning hours.

On Monday, November 7, an eight-storey building collapsed in Tassia, Embakasi, with the blame attributed to its poor foundation. Notably, no casualties were reported.

An image of the building that collapsed in Tassia, Embakasi on Monday, November 7, 2022. /THE STAR

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