• However, Executive Director of NCA Maurice Aketch confirmed that the incident did not result to any casualties.
• He noted that the incident took place on September 24, at around 11:00pm.
Image: KEITH MUSEKE
New details have emerged on the ten-storey residential building that collapsed at Mirema Drive along Zimmerman Area in Nairobi county on Sunday.
In a press statement released by the National Construction Authority (NCA) on Tuesday, the collapsed building damaged an adjacent building and a vehicle.
It also damaged the Kenya Power and Lighting Company infrastructure.
However, Executive Director of NCA Maurice Aketch confirmed that the incident did not result in any casualties.
He noted that the incident took place on September 24, at around 11:00 pm.
Further, the property which was registered under the Authority was supposed to be a 12-storey building.
“The project was registered with the National Construction Authority under registration number 53127915710189, and was intended to be a 12-storey residential building,” Aketch said.
“This was after submission of the Nairobi City County approval and Environment Impact Assessment Licence from the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).”
The Authority noted that they are still gathering information to assess the failure points of the poor structural concrete used in the construction.
“A detailed investigation will be conducted in the coming days to determine the actual cause of failure for this development,” Aketch said.
Aketch, however, warned that any individual who will be found having violated the Authorities' regulations shall face the law.
“Any person who will be found to have acted in contravention of the law and or/defied any lawful directions issued by a competent Authority will be subjected to the full force of the law,” he said.
Speaking during the opening of the 2023 Engineering Partnerships Convention in Naivasha in June, President William Ruto challenged the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) to urgently address the issue of collapsed buildings in the country.
He attributed this to the rising number of quack engineers and contractors, adding that this would be addressed through self-regulation.
During the event, the EBK launched a portal where all qualified engineers and their work will be registered.
Ruto directed that no government projects would be carried out by any engineer who was not on the portal.
He said the portal would help in self-regulation, adding that the government was keen on total compliance by the engineers and contractors.
“This portal will make it easier to identify the qualified engineers and their projects thus guaranteeing the safety of upcoming development projects,” he said.
Roads and Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen also lauded the creation of the portal by EBK noting that it would help get rid of the rising number of quacks.