Nairobi governor Evans Kidero suspends officials in wake of city building collapses

Rescuers at the scene of a building that collapsed in Huruma, Nairobi. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE |

What you need to know:

  • Dr Kidero said more heads are set to roll, adding that similar action awaits 14 others working in the two departments.
  • The Law Society of Kenya blames the licensing bodies, professional organisations and owners of the buildings for the accidents.

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero on Tuesday suspended four officials as pressure mounted on the county government over the recent building collapses in the city.

The chief officer for Planning, Urban Development and Housing, Rose Muema, and the director in charge of enforcement and compliance, Jairus Kathenge, have been sent home indefinitely as investigations into what led to the series of accidents got under way.

The other two officers are engineers working under the two senior officials.

Confirming the suspensions, Dr Kidero said similar action awaits 14 others working in the two departments.

“I am doing this to protect Nairobians from greedy landlords who care less about the safety of their tenants. Yesterday I promised to take action and said people will have to go to jail, this is what I am doing,” Dr Kidero told the Nation.

The action by the governor comes at a time when questions are being raised about how the buildings that collapsed were approved and developers allowed to carry on with construction work without being inspected by the relevant authorities.

The government and professional bodies specifically want investigations to focus on negligence of duty by county government officials with respect to approval of construction and inspection of buildings.

SHOULD SUE

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) blames the licensing bodies, professional organisations and owners of the buildings for the accidents that have claimed the lives of about ten people in the past few weeks.

LSK has called for prosecution of all construction professionals involved in the collapsed buildings who should take responsibility for the deaths and injuries of the victims of such disasters.

LSK chairman Eric Mutua said relatives of people who have died or been injured in collapsed buildings should sue the authorities and building owners for damages.

“The next of kin should seek claims for damages on account of willful negligence on the part of such licensing bodies and owners of the buildings who have left the situation to get worse,” Mr Mutua said.

The situation, Mr Mutua noted, was more distressing when owners of collapsed buildings that have killed and maimed scores of people are charged in court but released over incompetence, corruption and poor police investigations.

LICENSING BODIES

“We are deeply concerned by the loss of lives and also that owners of collapsed buildings held criminally culpable walk away scot-free,” Mr Mutua said.

The LSK chairman said that the building professionals involved should be identified before establishing whether they were qualified and licensed to operate.

“The government should establish the negligence of professional bodies, through omission or commission, to contribute to loss of life as a result of collapsed buildings.

“We need answers from licensing bodies on how their members were allowed to operate illegally and which inspectorate measures are under way to arrest the situation,” Mr Mutua said.

The lawyer said City Hall should also establish whether approvals for the collapsed building were given, if at all.

CONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS

The Commission on Administrative Justice (Office of the Ombudsman), in a statement, said it would conduct specific and systemic investigations into the collapsed Huruma building and others.

“The investigation is prompted by the tragedies witnessed in the country in recent times resulting from collapsing buildings that have caused loss of life, injuries and destruction of property.

“The Office of the Ombudsman notes that these incidents point to inherent issues in the construction process that precipitate the unfortunate accidents which Kenyans cannot afford to ignore,” read the statement signed by Phoebe Nadupoi, senior manager for advocacy and communications.

She said that besides the specific investigation on the Huruma building, the commission will also undertake a systemic audit of collapsed buildings in Nairobi within the last 10 years to establish the factors behind the incidents.

ENFORCEMENT OF BY-LAWS

Engineers, too, have blamed the failure to enforce bylaws on construction for the accidents.

They said setting up committees to investigate why buildings collapse will not help unless the county government develops and implements the recommendations of past investigations and existing regulations.

Engineer Kariuki Muchemi, a former chairman of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Kenya (ACEK) said what the county government needed were structures to implement existing laws and not committees.

Mr Muchemi, who chaired the Simeon Nyachae-appointed team to investigate a building accident on Ronald Ngala Street in Nairobi in 2006 said the causes of the collapse of the buildings have been the same: poor workmanship and substandard building materials.

Mr Nyachae, who was then minister for Roads and Public Works, constituted the Ronald Ngala Building Technical Investigation Committee following the collapse of a building under construction that resulted in the deaths of 17 workers on the site.

ROGUE DEVELOPERS

But the county government says rogue developers have made the task of inspecting buildings difficult by hiring goons to violently block inspections.

County Executive for Planning and Housing Tom Odongo said there are adequate laws to govern housing and property development but acknowledged that there have been challenges in enforcing them.

“What is ailing enforcement of these laws is security. There was this assumption that those who use these facilities will be civil and enable us (to) carry out the work of inspecting these buildings but this has not been the case.

“Our teams have been met with violent reactions from youths mobilised by developers and plot owners, making enforcement very difficult,” said Mr Odongo.