Thirty-seven people, including senior Nairobi County officials, are set to be charged over the collapse of a 16-storey building in South C that claimed two lives earlier this year.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) announced on Friday that it had approved the prosecution of the suspects after reviewing investigations conducted by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
According to the ODPP, the evidence gathered during the investigations was sufficient to support criminal charges against several public officers, developers and engineers linked to the construction project.
Among those expected to face charges is a suspended Nairobi County Chief Officer for Urban Development and Planning. Prosecutors intend to charge the official with abuse of office and neglect of official duty.
The officer recently came under public scrutiny after detectives from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) reportedly recovered about Ksh65 million in cash during a raid at his home in Machakos County as part of a separate corruption investigation.
According to the prosecution office, it emerged from the investigation that there were flaws in the approval, monitoring and regulation of the project before its collapse.
A number of public officers will be charged with abuse of office and dereliction of duty, while those who were directly responsible for the project will be charged with manslaughter.
Further, other individuals will be charged with a variety of crimes, which include preparation of false documents, submission of false documents and construction of a project without EIA license.
In a press release, the ODPP stated that the decision to prosecute was made after the evidence had been critically evaluated in accordance with constitutional provisions.
“The decision to charge was strictly guided by the provisions of Article 157 of the Constitution, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act and the Decision to Charge Guidelines,” ODPP said.
The accused persons are expected to be arraigned in court as criminal proceedings begin.
The tragedy occurred in the early hours of January 2, 2026, when the building under construction along Kiganjo Muhoho Avenue in South C suddenly came crashing down.
The collapse sparked a massive rescue operation involving several agencies, including the Kenya Red Cross, the Kenya Defence Forces Disaster Response Battalion and the National Youth Service.
After almost a week of looking for survivors in the rubble of the building, rescue mission became recovery after two security guards employed at the site were found dead under the rubble.
The incident shocked the majority of Kenyans, bringing into question yet again the proper implementation of building regulations in densely populated and fast-growing urban zones.
With the ODPP now approving charges against dozens of individuals, families affected by the tragedy will be hoping the court process sheds light on what went wrong and who should be held responsible for the deadly collapse.
