Many buildings pose danger to residents over lack of compliance

Establishments at a section of Nairobi's Huruma estate. (Photo: Wilberforce Okwiri/Standard)

More than 30 people have been killed in the past five years in collapsed buildings. There has however been no conviction of the owners or engineers involved.

Revelations that in the last 15 years there has been lack of compliance in construction of buildings in Nairobi is also shocking.

Buildings Inspectorate Secretary Moses Nyakiongora said they had inspected 2,601 buildings in the city and 200 of them had structural weaknesses and were undergoing further assessments.

But the county government has cited tribal politics, corruption and the courts as the main impediments in bringing down the targeted buildings.

In the past, owners of collapsed buildings, officials of approving agencies, contractors and planners have been held to account.

In 2006, after the collapse of a building in Nyamakima in the city, police charged four senior officials of the defunct Nairobi City Council with negligence.

The owner of the building, Jimmy Kihonge, was also charged with 14 counts of manslaughter. The case is still pending in court.

Kihonge rebuilt the property as the case continued to drag in court.

In 2014, another residential building collapsed in Nairobi's Kaloleni Estate in which eight people died and several others injured. The owner of the Kaloleni building was arrested and charged in court.

A month later, another building collapsed in Huruma, killing five people. The owners and engineers of the building were arrested and charged with various charges.