Kisii building owner charged with 8 counts of manslaughter

The owner of a 10 storey building that collapsed in Kisii on 10th Nv 2016 Jeremiah Matoke [right] and the Contractor of the building Jeff Ochora when they were arraigned in Kisii law court before high court Judge Jesse Nyaga on 17 Nov 2016.The two denied the charges and were released on 2,000,000 or 500,000 cash bail

The owner of the building that collapsed in Kisii County has been charged with eight counts of manslaughter.

Jeremiah Matoke was jointly charged with his structural engineer, Jeff Ochora. The two denied the charges before Kisii Chief Magistrate Jesse Nyaga.

The court heard that the two negligently caused the deaths of eight people in Kisii municipality last Thursday. Mr Matoke was also charged with employing a person who is not a registered engineer.

The charges read on diverse dates between 2011 and November 10, 2016, he employed Mr Ochora as a structural engineer in Kisii town, even though he was not a registered engineer.

Ochora also faced a separate count of taking up employment as a professional engineer without being registered by the engineers' board.

The two were released on Sh2 million bonds each and a similar surety or a Sh500,000 cash bail.

The case will be mentioned on December 1 and heard on February 16, 2017.