Fresh details have emerged showing that the 16-storey building which collapsed in South C neighborhood of Nairobi on Friday in regard to the fact that the structure had been several times cited for deviations from the approved architectural plan.
According to the Nairobi City County Government, the building has previously been fined three times in May, July, and December 2025 when the developer overreached the approved floor levels. Despite the repeated fines, the construction went on.
Since then, the National Construction Authority (NCA) has indeed confirmed that the construction project was non-compliant at the time it collapsed and that it had been operating without a valid license as a developer, Abyan Consulting Limited. The annual practicing license had expired on July 31, 2024, yet construction had continued for a prolonged period afterwards.
Files show that there were directives issued to the contractor by the construction officers in the county, including ceasing construction and reforming and submitting works for evaluation. This was to happen within 14 days. All these rules were flouted.
The building collapsed early Friday morning during construction work. There has been a dispute over how far the building work had progressed at the time of collapse, with NCA putting the building at floor number 16, the county government at floor number 15, while Public Service Cabinet Secretary claimed the building was at floor number 14.
It is estimated that at least four people may have been interred beneath the rubble. Efforts are being put by rescue teams who are racing against time to save lives.
Police documents also indicate that the concerns regarding the site were not a recent phenomenon. In July 2025, three employees were arrested regarding the illegal construction. These employees included Farah Hassan Jacub, Abdiaziz Hassan Jakub, and Wycliffe Omondi Onyango. They were later released on a cash bail of Sh20,000, and the construction continued.
After the collapse, in a statement, the NCA stated that there were inquiries under way to determine the circumstantially complete picture of what happened before taking appropriate action against those who were responsible.
The collapse at South C has also pointed out the long-standing concern with impunity in the construction industry. There are a number of tragic incidents that have occurred in Kenya in recent years that are a result of warnings and lack of enforcement.
In 2016, a building collapsed at Huruma Estate in the city of Nairobi, killing over 37 people. In September 2022, another collapsed in Kiambu County. Two years ago, another one collapsed on Juja Road in Eastleigh, leaving four confirmed dead. Every one of these kinds of incidents has, in the past, been admitted to have been preventable by authorities the hard lesson of cutting corners when it comes to our own safety!
