Enforce housing regulations for safety

Rescue teams stand besides a building that collapsed in Juja in Novemebr 2016. (Photo: Kamau Maichuhie, Standard)

The collapse of an eight-storey building in Pipeline, Nairobi, on Tuesday this week adds to the growing list of buildings that have collapsed in Nairobi in recent times. Last year, a building collapsed in Westlands, Nairobi, killing three people.

Hours later after the Westlands incident, another building in Kariobangi, Nairobi, also collapsed. Those collapses, however, cannot be blamed on natural happenings like earthquakes, but rather, on what is purely greed and lack of respect for human life.

The major cause of buildings coming down has been poor workmanship and unregulated development as demand for housing in urban areas grows. In 2016, Nairobi Deputy Governor Jonathan Mueke confirmed that over 70 per cent of buildings in Nairobi had not been approved by the county government.

But, one may ask; why is this so when the county government has an inspectorate department with the powers to enforce building regulations? Loose regulations in the housing industry continue to consign many to a life of misery and death. It is not hard to see corruption at play where institutions charged with the safety of buildings look the other way having, most likely, taken bribes from unscrupulous developers with an itch for a quick buck.

More than ever before, the Nairobi County government, the Architectural society of Kenya and the Ministry of Lands and Housing and the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBS) must take their responsibilities seriously.