Two buildings brought down in Nairobi city estates

Two buildings were Monday demolished in Nairobi in different sites, following a directive from the Office of the Governor.

Two residential houses were brought down in Soweto, Kayole estate and Baba Dogo in Kasarani. One building had caved in while the other one had not been approved for construction.

The ground floor of the building in Kayole had been occupied, with a butchery and a hotel business already booming. The tenants who had ignored the markings and the notice were yesterday forced to hastily remove their belongings.

County Executive for Housing Tom Odongo confirmed the three buildings had already been brought down since the exercise started last week, with several others already earmarked for the exercise.

"There are advance plans to bring down two more buildings the day after tomorrow (Wednesday). We will give you the locations and details before the process," said Odongo, who spoke to The Standard on phone.

He said they have workers doing random checks in areas reported to have high numbers of substandard buildings in the city. The hot spots include Zimmerman, Kayole, Mwiki, Kasarani, Umoja, Dandora, Lucky Summer and Pipeline among other areas with huge populations and many residential apartments.

The ongoing random inspection process is seeking to look at the safety perspective that include the structural layout, habitation which entails the parameter, natural lighting and maximum size of rooms, sanitation and amenities among other critical audits.

The first demolition was carried out in Kasarani last week.

Odongo advised developers to follow the due process while applying for authorisation to construct and to follow the approved plans.

"We only receive documents from registered architects and not developers themselves. This will include the ownership certificate, drawing of the building that will reveal the layout plan and the profile which shows the foundation and the support system, among other requirements," he said.