Tenants evacuated from ten-storey Riruta block after crack triggers enforcement notice
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Nairobi City County has ordered all occupants out of a ten-storey apartment block on Kabiria Road in Riruta Satellite, Dagoretti South, after a loud bang and a large wall crack raised structural safety fears.
Tenants of a ten-storey apartment block near Kabiria Road in Riruta Satellite, Dagoretti South, vacated their homes after a loud bang on the seventh floor and the discovery of a large crack in one of the walls, Citizen Digital reported. The residents alerted Riruta Police Station and Nairobi City County officials, who inspected the premises and ordered all occupants out while further assessments are carried out.
The evacuation left households scrambling to move their belongings, with some forced to abandon household items as they sought alternative accommodation. Police officers are manning the building while the county completes its assessment.
In an enforcement notice issued under the Physical and Land Use Planning Act No. 13 of 2019 and Nairobi City County by-laws, the structure was described as a dangerous and ruinous permanent building with 10 levels of occupation. The notice identifies the property as Nairobi Block 66/7880 along Kabiria Road in Riruta Ward, Dagoretti South Sub-County.
The county cited alleged non-compliance with the Physical and Land Use Planning Act, the Building Code 2024 and other regulations, stating that the development had been put up without the required planning permission. Its directives include immediate vacation by all occupants and removal of the structure, with a warning that failure to comply could trigger enforcement action whose cost would be recoverable as a civil debt.
The notice was signed on behalf of the Director of Planning Compliance and Enforcement and served on October 31, 2026. The incident has renewed concern over building safety, planning approvals and the enforcement of construction rules in Nairobi's fast-developing residential neighbourhoods.