Kenya's building collapse toll reaches 30 deaths in five years as professionals demand an overhaul
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Thirty people have been killed and 58 injured in building collapses in Kenya over the past five years, a pattern professionals link to weak inspections and approvals that persist after each disaster.
Thirty people have been killed and 58 injured in building collapses in Kenya over the past five years, according to a Daily Nation review published after the latest disaster in Eastleigh, Nairobi, where a multi-storey building came down on Friday. The review describes a recurring pattern: a building collapses, authorities announce that it was constructed illegally or in breach of approved plans, questions are raised about inspections, arrests and investigations are announced, and then another building comes down.
The Eastleigh collapse has again put the construction sector under scrutiny. Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said the county had not approved the architectural plans submitted for further development after an initial nod, while Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the government had begun a multi-agency investigation involving the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, the county inspectorate and the National Construction Authority.
The collapse came nine months after the January 2 failure of the 16-storey Manzil Towers in South C, which killed two people. Investigations found the building had exceeded its approved 12 floors despite county enforcement notices issued in 2025. In July, four people linked to the development were charged with manslaughter, forgery, uttering false documents and unauthorised construction; they denied the charges and were released on Sh5 million bond each. Separately, the State sought to prosecute 18 Nairobi County planning officials over alleged abuse of office for approving or failing to stop the construction.
Architectural Association of Kenya president George Arabbu Ndege told the publication that the problem is not only identifying the people associated with a collapsed building but examining the systems that regulate construction. "A building collapses, we make so much noise then after a few days we go back like nothing ever happened. It is a technical thing that needs deep analysis," he said, warning that developers sometimes engage architects and engineers only to satisfy documentation requirements for approvals without keeping them involved on site. "If you go around Nairobi and see what is happening, we are sitting on a ticking time bomb."
Mairura Omwenga, chairman of the Town and County Planners Association of Kenya, said county planners, architects, engineers and building inspectors are supposed to carry out at least monthly inspections of buildings under construction under Article 66 of the Constitution and enabling legislation, and argued that gaps in enforcement will continue to produce disasters. The Association of Consulting Engineers of Kenya, led by president Gabriel Jabong'o, has also called for an overhaul of the construction oversight system, warning that collapses can stem from structural design deficiencies, poor workmanship, substandard materials and deviation from approved plans.