Shocking revelations have now emerged that the collapsed six-storey building under construction in Kasarani had no legitimate building approvals and senior officials at City Hall could have sanctioned the superintending of the illegal construction, investigations by The Informer have established.
Detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) are undertaking forensic investigations on technical building approval documents and minutes of approval meeting believed to be all forgeries.
Specifically, investigators have questioned the authenticity of building approval plan dated September 27, 2021 bearing authorisation stamp of the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) City Planning Department.
“We want to establish who at City Hall approved the building plans, minutes of the technical meeting allegedly held on September 27, 2021 at the office of the Director Urban Planning and the NMS Development Application Building Plan Approval.” A senior officer privy with the probe said.
Additionally, sources at City Hall indicate that an inspection can only be conducted to an already approved construction but supervision of a structure without approval “amounts to superintending an illegal development.” Another source noted.
The new revelations have now seen the probe into those culpable of the said condemned building killing three people and left six others badly injured in Kasarani has now been widened to senior officials from Lands, Urban Planning and Development departments at City Hall.
Investigators believe there were deliberate acts of commission and omission through collusion of senior officers at City Hall and their juniors at the Sub County level in facilitating construction.
The building had existing enforcement notices barring the construction.
However, the whereabouts of the developer identified by the name Joel Kamau Kibe remains unknown.
Among those likely to be questioned include Nairobi County Chief Officer Lands who also doubles as the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Built Environment and Urban Planning Stephen Gathuita Mwangi popularly known as S.G Mwangi.
Others are Director of Development Control Patrick Analo and Lillian Kieni who was deployed from the State Department for Housing and Urban Development to the position of Director of Roads and Transport as Chief Officer, Housing Estate Management and Slum Upgrading.
John Osike, an Urban Planning officer who was previously based at Kasarani but has since been transferred to Embakasi East Sub-County in the same capacity has also been described as a person of interest.
“We have several people of interest to this case particularly those responsible for approval, inspection and supervision.” An officer privy with the investigations said.
Last week, Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja interdicted three junior officers and asked them to show cause within ten days saying they are directly responsible for the incident due to negligence of their duties including inadequate supervision on the building that was under construction at Kasarani’s seasons area.
The three include the Senior Superintendent of building Michael Angoya, an enforcement officer at the Kasarani sub-county Catherine Wairimu and Chief Superintendent building Beatrice Kimathi.
The collapsed building had been flagged three times due to non-compliance including that fateful morning when everybody was cleared from the site but a few are said to have defied the orders.
Effectively, the building had been condemned as unsafe prior to yesterday’s tragic occurrence.
Further, the construction had been suspended vide order S/No. 143383 on September 20, 2022
due to non-compliance issues including forgery of the project registration certificate.
According to the National Construction Authority (NCA) Executive Director Engineer Maurice Akech, on that fateful day the now infamous project was suspended, Kibe’s site foreman one Sylvester Oluoch was arrested and detained at Kasarani Police Station.
“The developer on record for the construction is Joel Kamau Kibe.” NCA Director said.
The Informer established that Oluoch was mysteriously released without being presented in court.
In what paints a clear gusto of impunity, during a second enforcement check by NCA at the same site on October 28, 2022 a month later, another representative of Kibe was arrested and arraigned before Makadara Law Courts over non-compliance issues where the case is actively ongoing.
In the past, a report by a taskforce and a team of investigators formed to undertake forensic investigations into at least 200 buildings whose construction approvals were deemed questionable revealed a total of 400 buildings out of the audited 3, 914 buildings in Huruma alone have failed structural test and thus should be demolished.
